Tesla, the business that gave global prestige to Elon Musk, is not going through a good time.
The shares began to fall more than four points when the pioneering electric car manufacturer announced yesterday a drop in vehicle deliveries in the first third of the year. This is the first time this has happened since the market broke down due to the global impact of the pandemic.
The brand distributed a total of 387,000 units. This means a decline of 20% compared to the previous quarter and 8.5% compared to annualized data. Wall Street had predicted that this distribution would reach 443,00 vehicles.
The report of the real setback occurs when Tesla faces weak demand for electric cars, high banking interests, the impact of the geostrategic situation of conflict (with special incidence of traffic in the Red Sea, a series of lawsuits for its technology and, not least, all the controversies surrounding the company's leader).
In fact, quite a few analysts are beginning to detect a rejection of products bearing Musk's signature in response to his anti-Semitic positions, his praise of autocrats and his openness, tolerance and even support for defenders of white supremacism and neo-Nazis in his social network X, also under its ownership and main transmission belt for its opinions.
Musk already warned at the end of January, in a conference with investors, that a noticeably lower growth rate could be experienced. He covered himself against what was coming, while the company invested in a new generation of vehicles whose production is expected to begin in 2025.
After the pandemic there was a continued recovery in distribution. The fall of this first quarter means connecting with the third quarter of 2022.
The result achieved was enough, however, for Tesla to claim the title of being the main seller of electric vehicles in this first quarter of the year from the Chinese company BYD.
But it is still a worrying sign for a market where there is generally a slowdown and where manufacturers, including Ford and General Motors, are recalibrating their investment plans after detecting a drop in consumer enthusiasm.
