Tesla car sales are growing slower than expected, amplifying concerns

Wall Street has become decidedly pessimistic about Tesla, fearing CEO Elon Musk is focusing too much on Twitter.

Tesla said Monday that shipments in the last three months of the year were up 18% from the previous quarter , disappointing Wall Street analysts and adding to the pressure on Elon Musk, the company's chief executive, to focus on making cars rather than redesigning Twitter.

Tesla said it delivered 405,000 electric cars from October to December. Wall Street analysts had predicted that Tesla would sell about 420,000 vehicles, down from 343,000 vehicles in the third quarter.

The company sold a total of 1.3 million cars in 2022, a 40% increase over the previous year. This was below the 50% annual growth target that Tesla had set for itself.

Although the increases were impressive by industry standards auto industry, Tesla has become the most valuable automaker in the market. world by expanding at the sizzling rates more commonly associated with Silicon Valley tech companies.

In recent months, Tesla has appeared vulnerable to competition from established automakers and rising borrowing rates that have made its electric cars more expensive for borrowers. Indications that Tesla is deadly contributed to a 65% drop in Tesla shares in 2022 and led investors to focus more on conventional metrics such as sales and earnings rather than dreams of world domination.

Fourth-quarter deliveries were lower than analysts' forecasts, which had already lowered their expectations, and lower than Tesla executives had suggested there just a few months ago. Tesla said it produced 440,000 cars in the quarter, 34,000 more than it delivered, suggesting supply chain issues and production issues were not the main explanation for sales disappointing.

Martin Viecha, head of investor relations at Tesla, said on Twitter that the gap between deliveries and production reflected vehicles in transit to customers.

There were no trades in New York on Monday due to the New Year holiday. But the numbers will likely bolster investor fears that Mr. Musk is too focused on Twitter, which it acquired in October. managing director of Future Fund, an investment fund, said on Twitter. He predicted analysts would cut their estimates for Tesla's 2023 sales and earnings. Tesla will release its 2022 results on January 25. tried to reassure Tesla employees, telling them not to fixate on the stock price and reiterating claims that the automaker would become the world's most valuable company, Reuters reported.

China, the largest automotive market, is at the center of investors' concerns. The sharp rise in Covid cases in China has weighed on demand and forced the company to periodically suspend production at its largest factory in Shanghai.

More , Chinese automaker BYD has overtaken Tesla in electric vehicle sales in China, casting further doubt on Mr. Musk's ability to dominate the world in the auto industry.

Tesla's sales growth outpaces any major competitor by percentage. The company is also among the world's most profitable automakers and is setting up new factories in Texas and Germany.

But the company faces more competition intense from traditional automakers like Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen. These companies have decades of experience in mass producing v...