Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information.
Tesla Inc. TSLA researcher Troy Teslike on Wednesday said that the EV company will likely not deliver 500,000 vehicles in a quarter in 2025 either, mostly owing to “brand sentiment issues.”
What Happened: The highest deliveries by Tesla in a quarter to date was in the fourth quarter of 2024 when the company delivered 495,570 vehicles. The company was aiming for over 500,00 deliveries but fell short because of demand issues.
“Sadly reaching 500,000 in a single quarter doesn't seem possible this year either, mostly because of brand sentiment issues,” Teslike said in a post on social media platform X.
“This year's best quarter will likely be below 470,000 units but the situation seems to be getting worse, and soon even 450,000 might be hard to achieve,” Teslike said.
The sentiment around Tesla is deteriorating owing to Elon Musk’s association with President Donald Trump and his support for far-right leaders and parties such as Alternative for Germany. The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Musk and aimed at slashing federal government spending, is also firing or forcing out government workers across departments, giving rise to protests.
Why It Matters: Tesla reported a fall in vehicle deliveries for the first time in over a decade in 2024. Tesla reported global deliveries of 1.79 million vehicles, down from full-year deliveries of 1.81 million in 2023.
In the democratic state of California, Tesla had only 203,221 vehicle registrations in 2024, nearly 12% lower than the year before, according to data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).
Deliveries are not faring well since the start of this year either.
According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, Tesla’s China-made EV sales fell 11.5% to 63,238 units in January. Of these 29,535 were exported to outside China.
In the European Union, Tesla’s new car registration fell by over 50% in January despite a rise in overall battery electric vehicle registrations, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in October that he expects a 20-30% increase in deliveries in 2025. However, the CEO didn't reiterate the target during the company's fourth-quarter earnings in January. Instead, Tesla only said that it expects the vehicle business to "return to growth" in 2025, possibly implying that deliveries would be higher than in 2024.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
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