The decline in sales came despite Tesla lowering its prices. Wall Street analysts expected to sell 457,000 cars in the first quarter and were surprised by the failure of sales.
– A dark day in Tesla's history with these disastrous numbers from the first quarter. Elon Musk needs to change this. He writes Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
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– portends bleak times for Tesla
Ives calls the numbers a complete “train wreck” for Tesla, and says that if you looked up the term in the dictionary, Tesla's quarterly numbers for the first quarter of 2024 would come up as a description.
“I think this could be a fateful moment for Tesla and portends what could be some bleak times if Tesla cannot turn this around,” he says in an interview with CNBC.
Read also: Car ownership is increasingly expensive – electric cars are less expensive
Blame the Houthi militia and the big fire
Tesla believes this decline can be partly explained by the fact that it is now producing an updated version of its Model 3 at its Fremont, California, factory.
Tesla believes that the Houthi militia attack on ships in the Red Sea, which forced many ships to sail a major detour around the southern tip of Africa, may also be part of the explanation.
The company believes that an arson fire that led to a power outage at the factory in Germany may also have affected sales.
In a letter to shareholders in January, Tesla warned of a “significant decline in sales growth” this year.
(© NTB)
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