2024-04-01 18:32:26
Photo: Tesla Motors
The share price of the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles fell by 29% in the first quarter of 2024: if at the beginning of January one share cost $248, then in the last days of March it was only $176. As a result, Tesla’s market value dropped to $550 billion. The main culprit financial experts They call China, whose car market has stopped absorbing Teslas at a record pace. In February, the Shanghai gigafactory shipped 19% fewer machines than in the same month last year. The March drop in production is even greater – by 35%. There are prerequisites that the production plan of the Chinese plant will continue to decline further. First-quarter statistics will be published in the coming days, but Tesla is projected to produce about 457,000 electric vehicles in the first three months of this year, up 4% from a year earlier. However, it is immediately 8% less than in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Such dismal performance is due not only to the general slowdown in the electric vehicle market, but also to the sharp increase in competition from modern Chinese models. The US and EU markets cannot compensate for Tesla’s declining sales in China. Demand is also decreasing overseas, and although the European market is growing, experts predict that it will slow down by the end of this year. Other reasons include attacks by environmental activists on the German Tesla plant and even the crisis in the Red Sea.
There is an opinion that Elon Musk personally has something to do with the failure. The head of Tesla is accused of contradictory statements and greed. A lawsuit in which Musk tried to get $56 billion in compensation from his company, which the board of directors allegedly deprived him of by transferring it to a percentage of financial performance, caused a great stir. The court found these demands “excessive” and canceled the payment.
Tesla has already stopped its usual price reductions for its electric vehicles, and even increased the price of the Model Y crossover by a thousand dollars in the United States. In the Chinese market, the price increase was 5,000 yuan ($687). It is unlikely that such a decision will cause a new surge in popularity and give a new impetus to sales of existing models.
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