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The electric-car company led by Elon Musk no longer has the market to itself. Investors are focusing on autonomous driving and other new technologies.
By Jack Ewing
Tesla sales fell in 2024, the first annual decline in the company’s history, as rivals in China, Europe and the United States brought in dozens of competing electric models, giving buyers more choice.
The company said Thursday that it delivered 1,789,226 vehicles internationally annually, down slightly from 1,808,581 in 2023. In the final three months of 2024, Tesla delivered 495,570 vehicles, compared with 484,507 in the final quarter of 2023.
Fourth-quarter deliveries were Tesla’s on record, according to the company, but they were not enough to offset weak sales earlier in the year.
Tesla shares, which have been rising for months, fell 6% on Thursday.
Tesla and its chief executive, Elon Musk, largely created the electric car market when they began selling the Model 3 sedan in 2017, arguably the first battery-powered car with enough price, functionality and diversity to appeal to large numbers. of consumers. main buyers. Tesla still accounts for almost a share of all electric cars sold in the United States.
But automakers such as BYD, General Motors, Kia-Hyundai, Volkswagen and China’s BMW have challenged Tesla’s dominance, with models with newer designs and lower prices.
BYD, which has nearly caught up to Tesla as the world leader in sales of purely battery-powered cars, sold 1.76 million electric vehicles in 2024, the company said on Wednesday, an increase from 1.6 million the year before. Unlike Tesla, BYD also sells plug-in hybrids that use gasoline and electricity, which have become popular in China. Last year, the company sold 2.49 million hybrids, a huge jump from 1.44 million in 2023.
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