Vehicle production fell 1.7% year over year and 12.5% sequentially for Tesla.
Shares fell about 6.5%.
Tesla didn't break out sales by model, but it did report that it produced 412,376 Model 3/Y cars and delivered 369,783. It produced 20,995 of its other models and delivered 17,027.
During the same period last year, the electric vehicle manufacturer reported 422,875 deliveries and 440,808 vehicles produced. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Tesla reported 484,507 deliveries and 494,989 vehicles produced.
Deliveries are a close approximation of Tesla's reported sales, but are not precisely defined in the company's shareholder communications.
Tesla's deliveries fell below the lowest analyst estimate.
Analysts were expecting about 457,000 deliveries in the period ending March 31, according to 11 estimates compiled by FactSet. Estimates ranged from a high of 511,000 deliveries to a low of 414,000 in the first quarter, with updated estimates from March of 414,000 to 469,000 deliveries.
Troy Teslake, an independent auto industry researcher closely followed by Tesla fans, expected about 409,000 deliveries.
Martin Weicha, Tesla's head of investor relations, sent out a consensus the company compiled based on ratings from 30 analysts over the weekend to select investors. A consensus polled by CNBC had analysts expecting an average of 443,027 deliveries and an average of 431,125 deliveries for the quarter.
Tesla faced several challenges in the first quarter.
“The decline in volumes was due to the initial phase of production declines for the refurbished Model 3 at our Fremont factory and factory shutdowns resulting from the Red Sea conflicts and shipping diversions due to the fire at Gigafactory Berlin,” Tesla said. Report.
Attacks by Houthi fighters on shippers in the Red Sea disrupted Tesla's supply of parts and temporarily halted production at its German factory outside Berlin in January. In March, environmentalists set fire to infrastructure near the same factory, depriving Tesla of sufficient operating power and again halting production.
In China, Tesla has faced an onslaught of competition from domestic EV makers including BYD and new companies such as phone maker Xiaomi. After sluggish sales numbers for its China-made cars in January and February, Tesla scaled back production of its Model 3 and Model Y at its Shanghai plant and reduced workers' schedules from six and a half days a week to five.
In the US, reviews have been mixed for Tesla's new model – an angular pickup called the Cybertruck – which the EV maker started selling in small numbers in December last year.
A series of discounts and incentives were less effective for Tesla than in the past.
In the closing days of the first quarter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk ordered all sales and service employees to install and demo a new version of the company's premium driver assistance system to customers in North America before handing over their cars. The system is marketed as fully self-driving but does not make Tesla cars autonomous. They need a man at the wheel, ready to start or brake at any moment.
Shares of Tesla fell 29% in the first quarter, the biggest decline since the end of 2022 and the third-steepest quarterly decline since the company's IPO in 2010.
The company plans an earnings call on April 23 to discuss quarterly results.
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