Tesla predicts slower sales growth
Tesla is warning sales growth for the company is expected to increase at a “notably lower” rate than 2023.
Elon Musk, founder of the electric vehicle (EV) maker, adds that unless trade barriers are put in place, Chinese marques “will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world”.
Tesla cut its prices on a number of occasions last year to sustain demand and eventually sold a record 1.8 million cars in 2023, up 38 per cent when compared with 2022’s figures.
However, the company’s annual revenue grew at only about half that pace and slowed considerably as the year drew to a close, reports the BBC.
Tesla’s revenue in the last three months of 2023 was US$25.1 billion (about NZ$41.1b), an increase of just three per cent from the same period a year earlier.
“Our company is currently between two major growth waves: the first one began with the global expansion of the Model 3/Y platform and the next one we believe will be initiated by the global expansion of the next-generation vehicle platform,” says Tesla in a quarterly update to investors.
Tesla says it expects to start production of its next-generation EV at its factory in Texas, US, in the second half of 2025,
Musk’s call for trade barriers as competition in the EV market grows came after Chinese brand BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s top-selling electric carmaker.
