On Wednesday, Tesla reported a sharp drop in profits for 2024 while its competitors in China, Europe and the United States eliminated its advance on the electric cars market.
The company, managed by Elon Musk, said that it had made a profit of $ 2.3 billion in the last three months of 2024. It was a drop against $ 7.9 billion a year earlier, But the benefit of 2023 included a single tax advantage of $ 5.9 of $ 5.9 billion. Tesla’s operating profit, which excludes this special gain, has dropped 23% in the last three months of the year.
Sales increased by 2% to 25.7 billion dollars in the fourth quarter, compared to $ 25.2 billion in the same period in 2023.
The company’s income and profits have been helped by $ 692 million in regulatory credit sales to other car manufacturers who need it to meet emission standards. A year earlier, the company generated $ 433 million from these sales. The Trump administration and the Congress Republicans said they intended to repeal the regulations that allow Tesla to sell such credits.
For the whole year, the profit was $ 7.1 billion, Tesla said, against $ 15 billion a year earlier. Sales reached $ 97.7 billion, compared to $ 96.8 billion in 2023.
Tesla also sells batteries used by public electrical services, businesses and houses to store energy from solar panels and other sources. The increase in sales of these products has helped to compensate for sales of dull cars.
The company remains depends on two models, the Model 3 sedan and the Sport Model Y utility vehicle, for most of its car sales, while its rivals in Asia, Europe and the United States offer a wider and growing selection electric vehicles.
Byd, based in China, sells more than a dozen electric and rechargeable hybrid models, from mini-rounded subcompacts, and has become Tesla’s largest challenger outside the United States. Chinese car manufacturers are expected to introduce more than 60 models in the second quarter of this year, said HSBC analysts in a report.
In its report on the results, Tesla said that a new more advanced version of the model will be sold in March, with a starting price of around $ 60,000. The current model is starting at around $ 45,000. He also indicated that “more affordable” models come into production in the first half, but provided no details.
Tesla said that an autonomous vehicle that can serve as a driver -free taxi called cybercab, would go into production in 2026.
The increase in competition and the relative lack of new Tesla models led to a drop in business market share in China, Europe and the United States last year. Tesla said earlier this month that she had sold 1.8 million vehicles worldwide in 2024, a little less than in 2023. It was a big change for a company that increased sales of cars 38% in 2023 and 40% in 2022.
In the United States, Tesla’s share on the electric vehicle market fell 44% in the last quarter of the year, compared to 51% a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive. Tesla has also lost ground on the luxury market. In the United States, BMW sold almost as many luxury sedans i5 and i7 as Tesla sold Model S cars in 2024; And Rivian sold about 7,000 more from his R1S SUV as a Tesla X model, according to Cox.
Sales of the most recent Tesla vehicle, the Cybertruck pick-up, which starts at around $ 80,000, also seems to be reported. Tesla sold 13,000 cybertrucks in the fourth quarter, against 16,700 in the third quarter, according to Cox estimates.
Tesla has dropped prices and offered low interest funding to increase sales, but measures took place at the expense of profit. However, Tesla is one of the few car manufacturers to earn money on electric vehicles. Ford, General Motors and others do not yet sell enough electric cars to recover the investments they have made to reorganize the mounting chains and make batteries.
Tesla’s actions have soared since November despite the company’s dull financial performance. Investors focus on Mr. Musk’s promises to produce autonomous “cybercabs” which, according to him, could generate billions of dollars in revenues. The company said Wednesday that its taxi activity “would start to launch later this year” in certain parts of the United States.
“The stock is not attached to the fundamental principles,” said Barclays analysts in a report this month. Rather, they said that investors are betting on “Elon’s Star Power” and “Tesla’s role as a disruptor – whatever the distance of the opportunity”.
Some investors also hope that Mr. Musk’s close association with President Trump will help Tesla: for example, helping to eliminate regulatory obstacles from autonomous vehicles.
But Mr. Trump and the Congress Republicans promised to remove tax credits and other incentives for electric vehicles, including Teslas. Musk said the elimination of incentives would no longer harm Tesla.
The company, which has its head office in Austin, Texas, said that it would introduce a vehicle this year which would sell much less than the Model 3 sedan, which begins $ 42,500 before government incentives. A more affordable car could attract more buyers and help relaunch sales. But Tesla did not provide details or displayed a prototype.
