Tesla missed third-quarter delivery expectations on Wednesday, hurt by stiff competition from rivals in China and Europe, sending shares of the world’s most valuable automaker down 3%.
The electric vehicle maker delivered 462,890 vehicles in the three months to September 30, up 6.4% on the previous quarter.
Wall Street on average expected the company led by Elon Musk to deliver 469,828 vehicles, according to 12 analysts surveyed by LSEG.
The company needs to deliver a record 516,344 vehicles in the fourth quarter to reach last year’s delivery figure of 1.81 million units. A shortfall could cause Tesla to record its first annual drop in deliveries.
Increasing competition in the United States, a lack of European subsidies and slowing consumer spending in China were a drag on Tesla’s quarterly deliveries.
Tesla faces fierce competition from Chinese automakers such as BYD and Xpeng, which are aggressively expanding their presence in the world’s largest auto market, with the help of subsidies from local governments.
However, BYD’s sales of 443,426 battery electric vehicles in the third quarter lagged Tesla’s as the Chinese EV giant focused on plug-in hybrid vehicles, deliveries of which rose more than 75% in the quarter. last quarter.
In July, BMW led the European battery electric vehicle market for the first time, overtaking Tesla, which has been losing market share to domestic companies, according to a report by Jato Dynamics.
Price cuts and incentives have also reduced Tesla’s profit margins.
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The company is expected to launch its robotaxi product at a closely watched event on October 10 in Los Angeles as it attempts a shift in strategy, focusing on AI-powered autonomous technologies.