Tesla's vehicle sales declined in 2024, marking the company's first full-year sales drop since before it became a mass-market seller. Why it matters: Tesla is a bellwether indicator for EVs, but the company's lack of major new models is limiting its upside potential.

Tesla has recorded its first drop in annual sales for a decade after Elon Musk’s support for Donald Trump provoked a backlash from Left-wing motorists. The US car giant delivered 495,570 electric vehicles (EVs) in the final three months of 2024,

Tesla’s global sales rose 2.3% in the fourth quarter, but the increase wasn’t enough to overcome a sluggish first half, and sales for the full year fell short of 2023 numbers

Tesla's increase in global sales in the fourth quarter was not enough to overcome a sluggish first half of the year.

Tesla sold about 1.78 million cars in 2024, it said Thursday. It's Elon Musk's electric automaker's first year-over-year decline ever.

In the final quarter of 2024, Tesla built 436,718 Models 3 and Y and delivered 471,930, clearing out a stash of inventory in the process. It built an additional 22,727 electric vehicles—the elderly Models S and X and the divisive Cybertruck—and sold 23,