SAN FRANCISCO: US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla delivered fewer cars in 2024 than it did in 2023, marking its first year-on-year drop, reported Xinhua.

The company announced on Thursday that it delivered 1.77 million vehicles globally in 2024, down 2.2 per cent from 1.81 million in 2023. Just 85,133 of those vehicles delivered were what Tesla refers to as "other models", which include Model S sedan, Model X SUV, and the Cybertruck.

The drop in 2024 is the first time annual sales actually declined since Tesla started delivering its first mass-market car, the Model S, in 2012.

Tesla warned investors at the beginning of last year that growth may be "notably lower" in 2024, and claimed it was a company in between "two major growth waves".

In April, Tesla laid off more than 10 per cent of its workforce in a restructuring that was meant to re-focus on Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk's long-promised idea of making a fully functioning robotaxi, according to a report by TechCrunch.

-- BERNAMA