Tesla delivered a record number of electric vehicles in the Q4, beating market estimates and meeting its 2023 target. Though deliveries of Tesla q4 in 2023 were high it lost its spot as the top EV maker to China’s BYD. Tesla delivered 494,989 EVs in the q4 2023, that is October-to-December period, falling short of the 526,409 vehicles that Warren Buffett-backed BYD delivered. This was mostly in China suggesting that car buyers were looking for cheaper models in a high-interest-rate economy.
Tesla q4 2023 result
While the U.S. automaker Tesla q4 sales push mostly paid off, helping it deliver 1.8 million vehicles in 2023, it fell short of CEO Elon Musk’s ambitious 2 million annual internal target.
However, it is still ahead of BYD for the whole year. The Chinese firm delivered a total of 3.02 million vehicles, including about 1.4 million plug-in hybrid EVs.
Tesla stock
Tesla stock had doubled last year. Tesla stock was nearly flat on Tuesday in a broadly weaker market. BYD shares fell by more than 2% in Hong Kong trading Tuesday morning.
BYD price cut worked
BYD price cut is working in its favor with increased deliveries said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“The fight will hurt margins for both companies, but BYD clearly believes it’s a price worth paying to increase market share and recognition,” she added.
Tesla 2023 earnings estimates
Tesla increased discounts and offered incentives like six months of free fast charging if customers took deliveries by December-end, in a bid to boost sales before some variants of its compact Model 3 sedan lose U.S. federal tax credits in 2024.
That helped it post a growth of 11% over the immediately previous quarter and Tesla gave higher than 2023 earnings estimates of 473,253, according to 14 analysts polled by LSEG.
It made a record 494,989 vehicles in the quarter after a production halt in the third quarter to upgrade assembly lines, taking total production in 2023 to 1.85 million units.
Tesla’s delivery numbers are “much, much, much better than domestic U.S. car companies,” said Gary Bradshaw, portfolio manager at Tesla shareholder Hodges Capital.
Other carmakers Q4 result
Smaller rival Rivian also reported deliveries on Tuesday, with the company missing market estimates amid a broader pullback in EV demand.
The weakness has led U.S. automakers including Ford and General Motors to become more cautious about their EV production capacity plans.
Regulators scrutiny
Tesla is also facing scrutiny from regulators over its self-driving technology with the company recalling more than 2 million vehicles last month to install new safeguards in its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system, after a federal safety regulator cited safety concerns.
Consumer Reports which is an influential U.S. non-profit group that conducts extensive reviews of cars, kitchen appliances and other goods said its preliminary evaluation suggests the software update to fix issues were not sufficient and did not go far enough to prevent misuse and driver inattention.
Tesla’s price cut
Some analysts said Tesla could have to continue the price cuts it started in January last year to maintain demand, after the end of the tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) brought forward sales into the fourth quarter.
“Tesla may have to cut prices further, especially for a vehicle like the versions of the Model 3 that lost their tax credit,” said Seth Goldstein, equity strategist at Morningstar.
The rear-wheel drive and long-range variants of Tesla’s Model 3 no longer have federal tax credits of $7,500 this year as updated requirements on battery material sourcing kick in, under the IRA.
Goldstein, however, said that most of the price cuts were in response to higher interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve so Tesla may maintain prices if borrowing costs start coming down.
Tesla deliveries in Q4 2023
Model 3 cars and Model Y sports utility vehicles accounted for 461,538 deliveries in the quarter, while Tesla handed over about 23,000 units of its other models. Tesla did not disclose if the deliveries included the newly launched Cybertruck.
