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To say that Tesla had a tumultuous 2023 would be an understatement. After all, the just-concluded year saw the EV giant's margins plummet to a nadir that would not have been computed in most analysts' expectations back in 2022, all in a bid to cut prices and stave off a steeper plunge in the demand for Tesla's offerings. Nonetheless, Elon Musk's iconic company appears to have pulled off another miracle of sorts, having ended 2023 on a decidedly optimistic note.
The $TSLA IR-compiled consensus for 4Q delivs is 480.5K, which implies a FY’23 total of 1,805. TSLA will report 4Q delivs before the market opens on Tues 1/2. pic.twitter.com/QtBdpaLlcY
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) December 29, 2023
Typically, the fourth quarter is the strongest sales period for Tesla, and the just-concluded quarter did not deviate from this well-established norm. As per the estimates compiled by the company's IR, the EV giant was expected to report quarterly deliveries of 480,500 units in Q4 2023, easily exceeding Tesla's previous record deliveries of 466,000 units in the third quarter of 2023. Tesla is also expected to have sold 1.805 million electric vehicles in the just-concluded year, constituting year-over-year growth of around 37 percent.
Tesla Delivers 484,507 Units in Q4 2023
This brings us to the crux of the matter. Tesla has now disclosed that it delivered 484,507 units in the last quarter of 2023, bringing its total deliveries for the year to 1.808 million units.
On a more granular level, the company delivered 461,538 units of Model 3 and Y, and 22,969 units of other models, including the Cybertruck. For the entire year, Tesla's production now stand at 1.845 million units.
Of course, the pertinent quarter also saw some of the first sales of Tesla's Cybertruck, which is expected to enter volume production only in 2025.
2/ This is how $TSLA provided 2023 guidance with the 4Q earnings print last year. They tend to talk in terms of production. A 50% CGR off 2020 actual production would have been 1,720K in 2023. For 2024 applying 50% cumulative growth would be 2,581K. pic.twitter.com/70TpUX3DFG
— Gary Black (@garyblack00) December 31, 2023
Tesla began guiding in 2021 that it would grow its annual production by around 50 percent for the foreseeable future. While the headwinds that the company saw in 2023 were robust enough to curtail this guidance, the EV giant does remain roughly on track with 2020 production levels as the baseline.
Just pressed my Tesla short at $250 pre-mkt
All the Jan 1, 2024 subsidy losses mean sales fall off a cliff starting now
Sell-side 2024 ests for EPS, margins, prices going to be lowered btwn now & Q4 report on Jan 24
Inventories increased by 11,000 in Q4
Price cuts incoming
— Gabe Hoffman (@GabeHoff) January 2, 2024
On the negative side, the company's inventory levels again increased by around 11,000 units. Moreover, some Tesla models are slated to lose the $7,500 EV tax credit in the US either completely or partially, leading to a potentially tougher 2024 demand outlook.
In 2023, BYD achieved a total yearly sales of 3,024,417 new energy vehicles and a total monthly sales of 341,043 new energy vehicles in December, a YoY growth of 61.8% & 45.0% respectively.
We look forward to contributing to another year of decarbonization in 2024!#BYD… pic.twitter.com/p0OIZoiNfi
— BYD Global (@BYDGlobal) January 1, 2024
Do note that Tesla seems to have ceded primacy in the EV arena to BYD for now. After all, the Chinese giant has managed to deliver over 3 million new energy vehicles (a term that includes hybrids) in 2023. In Q4 alone, BYD delivered 526,409 pure electric vehicles, comfortably beating Tesla's tally. This lead is sufficient to crown BYD as the apex EV volume player of 2023.
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