Tesla surpassed one of Germany’s most prized premium automotive manufacturers final yr, regardless of promoting fewer autos than anticipated.
Volkswagen’s Audi offered 1.67 million autos in 2024, down 12% from a yr earlier. Its battle with intensifying competitors in Europe and China and weak demand for its electrical fashions dropped the model behind Elon Musk’s Tesla, which delivered 1.79 million autos final yr.
Tesla’s yr wasn’t with out points. The US firm posted its first annual deliveries decline in over a decade and solely narrowly retained its lead over China’s BYD as the highest vendor of totally electrical autos.
However Tesla’s speedy growth within the previous few years positioned the corporate to reap the benefits of any slip-ups by incumbents. Its Mannequin Y sport utility automobile ranks among the many world’s best-selling vehicles and is getting a facelift this yr.
Germany’s automotive makers, in the meantime, are contending with tepid demand for luxurious vehicles in China, the place a restoration stays unsure and native producers are pushing additional upmarket. In Europe, EV gross sales are under expectations after a number of nations minimize subsidies. The issues led to a wave of revenue warnings final yr, together with from Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
Audi’s gross sales fell in markets together with Germany, China and North America. Deliveries of totally electrical fashions declined 8% to round 164 000.
Paring again
Producers have began paring again manufacturing in response to their gross sales slowing down, with Volkswagen decreasing capability at its namesake model. Audi plans to shut a web site in Brussels due to poor demand for the electrical Q8 e-tron sport utility automobile made there.
Learn: Meet the Tesla Cybercab, Elon Musk’s autonomous robo-taxi
Audi plans to replace fashions together with the A7 sedan and Q3 SUV this yr to bolster gross sales. “Clients can look ahead to quite a few new plug-in hybrids as effectively,” CEO Gernot Döllner stated Monday in a press release. — Stefan Nicola, (c) 2025 Bloomberg LP
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