Tesla said Monday it shipped 405,000 electric cars in the last three months of the year, an 18 percent increase from the previous quarter, falling short of analyst estimates.
Wall Street analysts had predicted that Tesla would sell about 420,000 vehicles from October to December, up from 343,000 vehicles in the third quarter.
The company sold a total of 1.3 million cars in 2022, an increase of 40 percent compared to the previous year. That was less than the 50 percent annual growth target that Tesla had set for itself.
The increase in deliveries was impressive compared to established automakers, but was less than analysts had predicted and Tesla executives had suggested just a few months ago. Wall Street has become decidedly pessimistic about Tesla, worried that Elon Musk, the CEO, is too focused on Twitter, which he acquired in October.
Tesla’s problems include China’s surge in Covid cases, which is depressing demand and forcing the company to suspend production at its largest factory, in Shanghai. The company also faces increased competition from traditional automakers such as Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen, as well as declining consumer demand as interest rates rise. Wait times for Tesla models have shrunk, and the company has lowered car prices in China and incentivized buyers in the United States.
Tesla shares have fallen sharply this year as investors lost confidence in Mr. Musk’s promise that the company would sell twice as many cars as Toyota, the world’s largest automaker by volume, by the end of the decade.
China, the world’s largest auto market, is a major focus of investors. Chinese manufacturer BYD has overtaken Tesla in electric vehicle sales in China, casting further doubt on Mr Musk’s ability to achieve world dominance in the auto industry. Tesla has repeatedly had to halt production in China due to supply chain issues and rising cases of Covid.
Last week, Mr. Musk reassured Tesla employees by telling them not to fixate on the stock price and by repeating claims that the automaker would become the most valuable company in the world, Reuters reported.
Tesla’s sales growth in percentage terms exceeds any major rival. The company is also one of the most profitable automakers in the world and is building new plants in Texas and Germany.
But investors are focused on the risk that traditional automakers, with decades of experience in cheaply mass-producing vehicles, could catch up to Tesla sooner than expected.
Car buyers, especially the left-wing, environmentally conscious consumers who tend to buy electric cars, also seem to be turning away from Tesla because of Mr. Musk. His erratic behavior on Twitter and heated rhetoric on the social media platform have endeared him to conservatives and Silicon Valley executives, but infuriated many other people.
