Tesla beats estimates with less drastic drop in Q2 vehicle sales than expected

NEW YORK – Tesla has reported its second consecutive drop in quarterly deliveries, even though chief executive Elon Musk took measures to stem the decline.

The carmaker said on July 2 that it delivered 443,956 electric vehicles in the second quarter, better than the 439,302 average analyst estimate.

While sales were down 4.8 per cent from a year ago, Tesla improved on a sequential basis from the 386,810 vehicles delivered in the first three months of the year.

The company produced 410,831 vehicles during the quarter. Its shares climbed as much as 4.8 per cent before the start of regular trading.

Tesla has had a tumultuous year.

Mr Musk

announced major staff reductions in April

and pushed internally to reduce headcount by as much as 20 per cent. Those affected included sales employees, which may have played a role in weaker sales figures.

The EV maker’s first new model in years, the Cybertruck, has also been slow to ramp up.

Tesla blamed its first-quarter slowdown on a suspected arson attack at its vehicle factory near Berlin, as well as shipping diversions from the Red Sea. While there were fewer external disruptions to the business during the last three months, the company is struggling to grow with an older line-up of vehicles.

Mr Musk ordered price cuts across Tesla’s line-up over the past year and a half, but those measures have not done enough to sustain momentum.

The carmaker, based in Austin, Texas, delivered 422,405 of its top-selling Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in the second quarter, down from 446,915 a year ago.

The company still has not broken out sales for the Cybertruck, the pickup that it began delivering in late 2023. Two recall campaigns in June suggested that Tesla has handed over more than 11,000 of the trucks to customers.

During the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in June, Mr Musk said the carmaker had produced 1,300 of the pickups in a week, though he did not specify when or whether Tesla would maintain that pace.

Mr Musk has said Tesla will roll out new and more affordable models by early 2025, though the company has provided few details beyond saying they will be produced on the same manufacturing lines as its current line-up.

The CEO has also prioritised building a fully autonomous robotaxi and plans to hold an event to unveil the vehicle on Aug 8.

BLOOMBERG