- Electric car maker Tesla said it delivered a record 1.3 million vehicles last year, 40% more than in 2021.
- But the firm, led by billionaire Elon Musk, fell short of Wall Street sales forecasts for the final months of the year.
- The company’s shares sank by more than 12% after the update.
Tesla said it had to deal with “significant Covid and supply chain related challenges throughout the year”. Meanwhile, authorities in South Korea said they would fine Tesla $2.2m (£1.8m) for failing to tell its customers about the shorter driving range of its electric vehicles in low temperatures.
Sliding Shares
The slide in the share price on Tuesday wiped more than $50bn (£41bn) off Tesla’s market value, which has long been seen as outsized compared with carmakers like Ford and General Motors, who make more vehicles. Tesla shares tumbled 65% last year – its worst year since going public in 2010 – as investors worried about disruptions to production, concerns over a slowdown in demand and Mr Musk’s focus on newly acquired Twitter. The multi-billionaire bought the social media platform at the end of October for $44bn (£36.4bn) and has spent much of his time since then trying to turn the business around even as Tesla faces rising challenges.
Like other car makers, Tesla is grappling with the likelihood of slowing demand for vehicles as customers deal with rising borrowing costs and concerns about an economic slowdown. Tesla also faces competition from traditional motor manufacturing giants such as Ford and General Motors, as well as newer entrants to the market like Rivian and Lucid in the US and China’s BYD and Nio.
Logistic Issues
Highlighting the logistics issues faced by the world’s most valuable car maker, deliveries in the fourth quarter of the year were also about 34,000 fewer than Tesla produced. The shortfall is unusual for Tesla, as it had previously managed to deliver about as many vehicles as it produced.
In October chief executive Musk said he was working to resolve the issue and pushed back on the idea that demand was hurting. The company is scheduled to announce financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the year as a whole on 25 January.
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Source: BBC
