Tesla stopped its growth sharply in the fourth quarter of 2023 and has warned that the slowdown in sales will continue this year.
The company led by Elon Musk published its closing accounts for the last financial year this Wednesday and included a warning that investors did not like at all: “In 2024, our vehicle volume growth rate may be significantly lower than the growth rate achieved in 2023, as our teams work on the launch of the next generation vehicle at the Texas gigafactory.”
Tesla has already been surpassed by the Chinese company BYD as the largest electric car manufacturer.
The sales of the American company increased only 3% in the fourth quarter of the year, to 25,167 million dollars (23,133 million euros, at the current exchange rate), with an increase of only 1% in the area's billing automotive.
For the year as a whole, revenue increased 19%, to $96,773 million, partly driven by batteries and the solar business.
For its part, profits grew by 19% in 2023, to $14,997 million, according to the accounts presented this Wednesday by the company, using generally accepted accounting criteria.
That is due to extraordinary tax benefits of $5.9 billion that were recorded in the fourth quarter.
Using the company's own criteria (which exclude this non-recurring item, among others), profitability suffered and profit fell by 23% in the year, to 10,882 million in the year.
The results have disappointed the market and Tesla's price has fallen on the stock market outside normal trading hours.
The slowdown in 2023 comes after a 2022 of strong growth in both revenue and profits, in which Tesla became the highest-profiting automaker in the United States.
In 2023, although car deliveries set a record and continued at a good pace, they did so at lower prices.
The accounts presented this Friday show that the adjusted gross operating profit margin stood at 17.2% in 2023, compared to 23.2% in 2022. This erosion of margins was due to price reductions.
Expenses, on the other hand, grew by 22%, so that the result of operations fell by 35%, to $8,891 million.
The company has confirmed that it is preparing to launch a new model in 2025. In its earnings report, it notes: “We are focused on bringing the next-generation platform to market as quickly as we can, with the plan to start production at the gigafactory in Texas.
This platform will revolutionize the way vehicles are manufactured,” he says.
Shares of the company led by Elon Musk have started 2024 lower amid simultaneous concerns about lower demand for electric cars and growing competition in the sector.
Tesla closes 2023 as the market leader, but it has been losing share and its margins have been eroding with the price reductions it has had to undertake.
After the presentation of the results, it fell by 5% this Wednesday.
Automakers, suppliers and even car rental companies have warned that interest in electric vehicles is waning.
General Motors and Ford are reducing their expansion plans in the segment, while Hertz is selling a part of its electric fleet to replace those vehicles with gasoline cars.
Tesla announced on January 2 that it delivered 484,507 cars in the fourth quarter of 2023. This figure represents a record for the company and a growth of 19.5% compared to a year before.
In 2023 as a whole, Tesla's sales were 1.81 million units, an increase of 38% compared to 2022.
The company achieved its official goal of reaching sales of 1.8 million units in 2023. Elon Musk, however, noted at the analyst conference a year ago, in a moment of euphoria, that the price cuts it was undertaking the company could allow it to reach two million cars sold last year.
Although for the year as a whole, Tesla retains leadership in the pure electric market, in the fourth quarter the Chinese BYD dethroned Elon Musk's company with sales of 526,409 electric cars.
The Asian company was already on the verge of surpassing the American company in the third quarter.
Tesla has told its suppliers that it wants to start production of a new mass-market electric vehicle codenamed “Redwood” in mid-2025, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, who described the model as a compact
crossover
.
Musk has long been trying to launch affordable electric models, including a basic car for around $25,000, that would allow him to compete with cheaper gasoline cars and a growing number of affordable electric vehicles, such as those made by BYD.
Musk first promised to build a $25,000 car in 2020, a plan he later shelved and then revived.
Tesla's cheapest car, the Model 3 sedan, currently has a starting price of $38,990 in the United States.
Musk's participation
Elon Musk has surprised this January by demanding a larger stake in the company.
Musk has received more stock awards than any other American executive.
However, he has been selling a good part of his stake in the company for other operations, such as the purchase of Twitter, and now alleges that with a stake of less than 25% it is not worth it to develop some of his projects within Tesla, such as those linked to artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving.
Much of Tesla's valuation is linked to the development of these technologies and none of the options that Elon Musk seems to have left on the table appeal to the market: take those businesses, which would decrease Tesla's value, or receive a large package of shares, which would dilute the participation of the rest of the shareholders.
Musk wrote on January 15 on his social network
Enough to be influential, but not so much that they can't overthrow me.
Unless that is the case, I would prefer to create products outside of Tesla.”
Musk also explained in another message that the reason why there is no new stock compensation plan for now is that he is still waiting for a court decision on his previous multi-million dollar plan by the Delaware court that examined the lawsuit of a shareholder.
The trial was held in 2022, but the sentence has not yet been handed down.
That plan was valued at about $55 billion.
Follow all the information on
Economy
and
Business
on
and
X
, or in our
weekly newsletter