Sales of Tesla‘s TSLA best-selling vehicle, the Model Y, continued to rise in the U.S. in the first quarter but lower sales of its other vehicles dragged overall sales lower, as per data from Kelley Blue Book.
What Happened: Tesla sold 96,729 Model Ys in the U.S. during the first quarter, marking a jump of 1.4% year-on-year, according to data from the automotive research company. The sales of Model 3, S, and X, however, dropped 43.9%, 13.3%, and 13.3%, respectively.
As per the research company, Tesla sold 140,187 electric vehicles in the U.S. last quarter, marking a 13.3% drop from the 161,630 vehicles sold in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
Tesla does not segment its deliveries model-wise or geography-wise, preferring to report global, combined numbers instead. Earlier this month, Tesla reported an 8.5% year-on-year decline in first-quarter deliveries with 386,810 vehicles delivered across the world.
The decline in volume, the company said, was partly due to difficulties in ramping the production of its refreshed Model 3 at its Fremont factory, among other things.
The Model 3, credited with saving Tesla from bankruptcy, faced production challenges during its ramp-up phase in 2017-2019, with CEO Elon Musk saying it caused "extreme stress and pain” to scale up.
The Electric Flare Across Brands: As per Kelley Blue Book, EV sales across brands in the first quarter rose 2.6% year-on-year but fell 15.2% as compared to the previous quarter.
"Electric vehicle sales in the U.S. declined during Q1 2024 – the first quarter-over-quarter downturn since Q2 2020," said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. "As anticipated, Tesla's sales took a hit, influencing the overall market dynamics. However, a few brands saw significant EV sales increases, achieving over 50% year-over-year growth.”
The players to have recorded growth in EV sales unlike Tesla in the first quarter include BMW, Cadillac, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes, Rivian, and Vinfast.
However, for 2024, Cox Automotive forecasts EV sales in the U.S. to rise as compared to 2023. The researcher expects 2024 to be the best year ever for EV sales with analysts expecting EV sales to reach about 10% of total new vehicle sales by the end of the year.
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