- Production has outstripped sales at the car business owned by Elon Musk
- Stockpiles of unsold Teslas can now be seen from space
- Tesla management are confident that the number of unsold vehicles will reduce in the coming months
For all the publicity that owner Elon Musk gives the Tesla brand, it isn’t being backed up with sales – and now stockpiles of unsold vehicles can be seen from space.
Satellite images from observation marketplace SkyFi have shown that vast lots outside Tesla’s gigafactory in Austin, Texas, are filling up with Teslas as the company’s production is outstripping demand. Lots in other areas have also been reported to be filling up with unsold Tesla vehicles.
Outstripping demand
The problem was that in the first quarter of 2024, Tesla produced more than 433,000 vehicles, but only delivered 386,000 to customers, according to company figures. This left 47,000 unsold – more than double the amount from the same time in 2023. That is a lot of vehicles that have to be kept somewhere.
There are various reasons for the disparity between production and sales, including wider sales of electric vehicles failing to grow as hoped – many people still prefer traditional internal combustion engines for their cars – and growing competition within the market as other, lower-cost models come onto the market.
However, Tesla’s chief financial officer, Vaibhav Taneja, is confident that this situation can be turned around and the stockpile to reduce in the months April to June.
Other problems
This is just the latest problem for the high-tech car company. Back in April, numerous owners of Tesla’s Cybertruck took to social media to complain about their new vehicle malfunctioning. This came just months after deliveries of the much-delayed vehicle, which costs $80,000, to customers finally started to happen.
