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Elon Musk Showcases Tesla’s 4M Ton Production — Doesn’t Mention Electric Vehicle Slump

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James Morales
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Key Takeaways

  • Elon Musk recently boasted about Tesla’s 4 million tons of manufactured goods.
  • However, the company’s production output is tempered by sluggish vehicle deliveries.
  • Tesla’s year-over-year vehicle deliveries declined in the first two quarters of 2024.

Elon Musk boasted that Tesla’s production output amounts to around 4 million tons of complex manufactured goods. 

But while the figure highlights the company’s growing manufacturing capacity, it hides the fact that Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) deliveries have declined in 2024.

Musk Touts Tesla’s “Mass Flux”

In a recent post  on X, Musk said, “It’s wild to think that Tesla’s mass flux is ~4 million tons of complex manufactured goods.”

Derived from physics, mass flux refers to the rate of mass flow per unit of area. While Musk didn’t expand on what he meant specifically, it is likely he was referring to the total mass of goods produced by Tesla per year.

Presumably, that includes vehicles, batteries, and solar panels. 

Taken together, Tesla’s production output may well be growing. But in 2024, the company’s electric vehicle sales have stalled.

Tesla’s EV Output

In the first and second quarters of the year, Tesla delivered fewer vehicles than in the equivalent period in 2023. Production also shrunk from 433,371 vehicles in Q1  to 410,831 in Q2 .

And although both production and deliveries returned to positive growth  in Q3, Tesla’s EV business still faces challenges.

Alongside ongoing Cybertruck production issues, the company scrapped plans for a new low-cost Model 2 in April this year.

While Musk has tended to blame supply-side challenges and factory capacity, weakening demand amid increased competition from rivals, especially Chinese players like BYD, is also a factor.

Chinese Competition

In August, BYD sold a record  373,083 fully electric vehicles, closing in on Tesla’s total for the entire quarter. Including its plug-in hybrid sales, BYD has far surpassed Tesla’s output this year. 

Although Tesla remains the world’s most valuable automaker, its stock price has fallen more than 12% since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, BYD’s has grown more than 60%.

Of course, Musk has always claimed that Tesla isn’t a car company but a technology firm. This is why its share price doesn’t track its earnings or unit output in the same way as other manufacturers. 

Nevertheless, ambitious projects like Tesla’s recently unveiled Cybercab will eventually need to translate into tangible returns for the company to justify its high valuation.

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