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Tesla profits plunge as automaker grapples with slumping electric vehicle sales
Mounting competition in the stuttering electric vehicle market is taking the juice out of Tesla.
The automaker’s first-quarter profit plummeted 55% as falling global sales and price cuts sliced into the EV maker’s revenue and earnings. The company said Tuesday it made $1.13 billion in profit from January through March, compared with $2.51 billion in the same period a year ago. Revenue was $21.3 billion, down 9% from last year, the company said.
Tesla executives blamed the dip partly on EV sales being “under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs.”
The weak earnings report landed on the same day Tesla announced it plans to lay off nearly 2,700 workers at its factory in Austin, Texas. The layoffs will happen during a two-week period starting June 14, according to a layoff notice. Tesla said last week that it’s planning to lay off more than 10% of its roughly 140,000 workers globally.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The latest financial results continue what has been tough stretch for Tesla this year. The company said earlier this month that it delivered 386,810 vehicles in the first quarter, almost 9% below the 423,000 it delivered in the year-ago period. Tesla blamed the decline partly on phasing in an updated version of the Model 3 sedan at its Fremont, California factory.
Plant shutdowns due to shipping diversions in the Red Sea and an arson attack that knocked out power to its German factory also curtailed deliveries, according to Tesla.
In another black eye for the company, Tesla said on April 19 that it is recalling nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks because of a faulty accelerator pedal.
Tesla is facing increasing competition overseas and in the U.S. as automakers race to introduce new, and more affordable, EV models. Between 2018 and 2020, Tesla accounted for 80% of EV sales in the U.S., but that figure fell to 55% in 2023, according to Cox Automotive.
Although the pace of EV sales has dipped this year, the longer term forecast shows continued global growth. Automakers around the world will sell about 17 million EVs this year, up from 14 million last year, according to a recent estimate from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“Electric cars accounted for around 18% of all cars sold in 2023, up from 14% in 2022 and only 2% five years earlier, in 2018,” the IEA said. “These trends indicate that growth remains robust as electric car markets mature.”
And Tesla investors took heart Tuesday from Tesla vowing to accelerate its introduction of a low-cost vehicle, boosting the company’s shares in after-hours trading.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.