(New York) The American automobile manufacturer Tesla delivered fewer vehicles in the first quarter than in the same period of the previous year, and in quantities lower than market expectations, which caused its stock to fall on the New York Stock Exchange.
The electric vehicle specialist delivered 386,810 vehicles in total, compared to the 457,000 expected by analyst consensus. Its production also fell, to 433,371 (-8.5%).
“The drop in volumes is partly due to the initial production phases of the new version of the Model 3 at our Fremont factory,” in California, the group explained in a press release.
According to the group, it also stems from delivery problems linked to the conflict in the Red Sea, with missile attacks by the Houthis on ships, and sabotage in its factory in Germany.
A small far-left group claimed responsibility for the fire on an electricity pylon in March which shut down this factory located near Berlin, Tesla’s only production site in Europe, for several days.
Around 10:15 a.m., Tesla shares lost $9.09 or 5.19% to $166.13 on the New York Stock Exchange.
But the group does not mention China, where it nevertheless faces strong competition from local manufacturers, in particular BYD which snatched the title of largest global seller of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“Disastrous first quarter”, headlined the note from Wedbush analysts, after this announcement from Tesla which “negatively shocked” the market.
“Let’s put it bluntly: although we anticipate a bad quarter, this is an absolute disaster in the first quarter that is difficult to explain,” they say.
“We consider this a flagship moment in the history of Tesla”, when its boss Elon Musk must work to “reverse” this poor performance otherwise “darker days could present themselves and could affect Tesla on the long term,” they warn.