Tesla Inc’s TSLA fourth-quarter sales in the U.S. are expected to jump 42.8% to 97,417 electric vehicles from a year ago and 28.8% over the previous quarter, the latest automotive industry forecast from TrueCar reflected on Wednesday.
What Happened: The Elon Musk-led company is expected to deliver 36,300 electric vehicles in the U.S. in December, a jump of 34.7% over last year and about 7% over November, according to TrueCar.
Tesla sold 33,980 electric vehicles in November, the report noted.
Musk on Wednesday said Tesla is working hard to meet the year-end delivery targets as the electric vehicle maker company’s stock rejoined the $1-trillion-market-cap club.
TrueCar also forecast total new vehicle sales will reach 1,144,108 units in December, down 27% from a year ago. The research agency estimated December’s seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for total light-vehicle sales to be 11.9 million units, down 27% from a year ago.
How Will Legacy Players Fare?: Both General Motors Co GM and Ford Motor Co F are expected to report year-on-year declines in December sales due to the low base from a year ago when volumes were hit due to the pandemic and dealers were struggling with inventories.
The sales numbers are expected to rise over November for both GM and Ford.
GM’s December sales are expected to reach 168,640 vehicles, a decline of 42.9% on a year-on-year basis, and a rise of 21% over November.
Ford is expected to report a decline of 20% to 166,547 vehicles in December, compared to a year ago, and a rise of 5.8% over last month.
On a quarterly basis, Ford is expected to sell a total of 498,428 vehicles, a drop of 7.5% on a year-on-year basis but a rise of 25.3% over the third quarter.
GM is expected to report total sales of 441,426 vehicles in the fourth quarter, implying declines of 42.5% year-on-year and down 0.4% quarter-on-quarter, the report noted.
Historically, December has been a busy month for automakers as they rush to close the calendar year-end targets. This year, automakers around the world have been battling chip shortages to ensure a steady and timely supply to dealerships and customers. Legacy player Ford has earlier said it plans to keep inventories historically low.
The report projected incentive spending in December to be down 55% from last year and 51% for the fourth quarter.
Price Action: Tesla shares closed 7.49% higher at $1,008.87 a share on Wednesday.
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