Tesla’s Quarterly Deliveries Fall for First Time Since 2020

The result was enough for Tesla to reclaim the title from China’s

as the world’s top electric-vehicle seller on a quarterly basis. Yet, it is a troubling sign for the world’s most valuable automaker and the overall EV market, where growth is slowing and automakers are recalibrating investment plans after finding consumers to be less enthusiastic about going electric than the companies had expected.

The first-quarter results rattled investors, sending shares down about 5% Tuesday. The company’s stock has fallen 33% this year through Tuesday, making it the second-worst performer in the S&P 500 index, ahead of only health insurer

.

The softer-than-expected deliveries tally raises questions about underlying consumer demand, and calls into question whether Tesla will be able to achieve even modest growth this year,

analyst Emmanuel Rosner wrote in a note to investors. 

Analysts had slashed their expectations for Tesla’s first-quarter performance over the past several weeks. Those surveyed by

forecast Tesla would deliver around 457,000 vehicles globally in the first quarter, though that reflects some stale estimates. Others expected results to be weaker.

Tesla attributed the result partly to production setbacks in the first three months of the year.

First, the company halted output at its plant in Germany for two weeks beginning in late January, citing parts shortages stemming from attacks on ships in the Red Sea. Then, in March, the assembly line ground to a halt once more after an arson attack on the grid that supplies power to the factory.

Meanwhile, Model 3 production tumbled in the U.S. as the company introduced its refreshed version of the car domestically.

Tesla produced 433,371 vehicles in the first quarter, down from 440,808 in the first three months of 2023. Most of them were Model Y crossovers and Model 3 cars. The company didn’t disclose how many Cybertruck pickups it produced.

The gap between production and deliveries suggests “that beyond the known production bottleneck, there may also be a serious demand issue,” Deutsche Bank’s Rosner said.

Other major automakers reported first-quarter U.S. sales throughout the day Tuesday, with investors paying particularly close attention to electric-vehicle deliveries as growth decelerates.

Asian automakers posted solid U.S. sales for the quarter, including Toyota Motor’s 20% jump. The Japanese car manufacturer said sales of gas-electric hybrid vehicles—which have surged in the U.S. as EV growth slows—propelled the company’s results.
亚洲汽车制造商在本季度取得了稳健的美国销售业绩，其中包括丰田汽车的销量增长了 20%。这家日本汽车制造商表示，混合动力汽车的销售业绩推动了公司的业绩，而在电动汽车增长放缓的情况下，混合动力汽车在美国市场上迅速增长。

Electric-vehicle sales from the traditional automakers were mixed.

’s EV sales doubled in the first quarter, helped by the Ioniq 6 sedan. General Motors saw EV sales decline about 20% in the first quarter, while overall U.S. deliveries fell 1.5%.
传统汽车制造商的电动汽车销售情况不一。由于 Ioniq 6 轿车的帮助，现代汽车的电动汽车销量在第一季度翻了一番。通用汽车的电动汽车销量在第一季度下降了约 20%，而整体美国交付量下降了 1.5%。

EV-maker Rivian’s first-quarter deliveries rose 70%, to about 13,600 vehicles, better than Wall Street analysts had expected. The company stood by its full-year production forecast of 57,000 vehicles.
电动汽车制造商 Rivian 的第一季度交付量增长了 70%，约为 13,600 辆车，超出了华尔街分析师的预期。该公司坚持其全年生产预测为 57,000 辆车。

Wall Street is bracing for Tesla’s deliveries to grow little, if at all, in 2024, given the company’s aging lineup and elevated interest rates. As of February, the average annual percentage rate on a new-car loan was around 7.1%, up from 4.4% two years earlier, according to Edmunds. 
华尔街预计，考虑到特斯拉的老化产品线和高利率，该公司在 2024 年的交付量将很少增长，甚至可能不增长。根据 Edmunds 的数据，截至二月份，新车贷款的平均年利率约为 7.1%，较两年前的 4.4%有所上升。

Tesla’s slowdown represents a sharp change of fortunes for the world’s most valuable carmaker, whose success opened the floodgates for investment in battery-powered vehicles. 
特斯拉的放缓代表着世界上最有价值的汽车制造商的命运发生了剧变，其成功为电池动力车辆的投资打开了闸门。

After years of chasing 50% annual growth on average, the high-flying carmaker has warned of “notably lower” growth in 2024, and Chinese rivals are nipping at its heels.
经过多年追逐平均 50%的年增长率后，这家高飞的汽车制造商警告称 2024 年的增长将“明显下降”，而中国竞争对手正在紧追其后。

BYD, which briefly became the world’s top seller of EVs in the fourth quarter, sold 300,114 all-electric vehicles globally in the first three months of the year, up 13% from the same period in 2023. It offers EVs that are less expensive than Tesla’s and sells mostly in China.
比亚迪在去年第四季度曾一度成为全球最畅销的电动汽车制造商，今年前三个月全球销量达到了 300,114 辆，同比增长 13%。比亚迪的电动汽车价格较特斯拉更为实惠，并主要在中国销售。

China is the world’s largest car market with a fiercely competitive electric-vehicle industry, where Tesla is facing growing pressure from domestic players.
中国是全球最大的汽车市场，拥有竞争激烈的电动汽车行业，特斯拉在这里面面临着来自国内竞争对手的不断增加的压力。

The global electric-vehicle market expanded around 35% year-over-year in the first quarter, according to GlobalData estimates. U.S. sales of all-electric vehicles were poised to climb about 17% during the period. 
根据 GlobalData 的估计，全球电动汽车市场在第一季度同比增长约 35%。美国纯电动汽车销量在该时期有望增长约 17%。

Tesla is facing a drought of new products, with its highly anticipated low-cost car not expected until late 2025 at the earliest. 
特斯拉面临着新产品的干旱期，预计其备受期待的低成本汽车最早要到 2025 年末才能推出。

Meanwhile, Musk, the chief executive, is pushing to increase use of the company’s driver-assistance package dubbed “Full Self-Driving Capability.” The technology, which doesn’t make cars fully autonomous, could bring in additional software revenue, bolstering the company’s bottom line. Tesla recently began offering customers a one-month free trial of the technology, which normally costs $12,000 outright or $199 a month as a subscription. 
与此同时，首席执行官马斯克正在推动增加该公司被称为“完全自动驾驶能力”的驾驶辅助套件的使用。这项技术并不能使汽车完全自主驾驶，但可以带来额外的软件收入，增强公司的利润。特斯拉最近开始向客户提供一个月的免费试用该技术，正常情况下该技术的价格为 12000 美元，或者按月订阅 199 美元。

Tesla is scheduled to report first-quarter financial results on April 23. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect Tesla to report a quarterly profit of $1.8 billion, down roughly 27% from the first three months of 2023 as the company’s recent price cuts weigh on profitability. It would be the company’s lowest quarterly profit in more than two years. 

Revenue is expected to climb some 4% year-over-year to $24.3 billion, according to FactSet. 

analyst Adam Jonas, who has long been bullish about Tesla, wrote in a recent note to investors that the automaker “may be witnessing price-cut fatigue” as profitability narrows. “Such conditions may not significantly improve near-term given the age of Tesla’s product line-up,” he wrote.

Write to Rebecca Elliott at rebecca.elliott@wsj.com