Tesla misses estimates for third-quarter deliveries on stiff competition

(Reuters) -Tesla missed expectations for third-quarter deliveries on Wednesday, hurt by stiff competition from rivals in China and Europe, sending shares of the world’s most valuable automaker down 3.5% in premarket trading.

The EV maker handed over 462,890 vehicles in the three months to Sept. 30, up 6.4% from the preceding quarter.

Wall Street on average had expected the Elon Musk-led company to deliver 469,828 vehicles, according to 12 analysts polled by LSEG.

The company has to deliver a record 516,344 vehicles in the fourth quarter to meet last year’s delivery figure of 1.81 million units. A shortfall could result in Tesla recording its first annual drop in deliveries.

Rising competition in the United States, a lack of European subsidies and slowing consumer spending in China were a drag on Tesla’s quarterly deliveries.

Tesla is contending with fierce competition from Chinese automakers like BYD and Xpeng, which are aggressively expanding their presence in the world’s largest automotive market, with help from local government subsidies.

However, BYD’s sales of 443,426 battery electric vehicles in the third quarter were lower than those of Tesla as the Chinese EV giant focused on plug-in hybrid vehicles, whose deliveries jumped more than 75% in the latest quarter.

In July, BMW led the European battery electric vehicle market for the first time, beating Tesla, which has been losing market share to domestic firms, according to a report by JATO Dynamics.

The price cuts and incentives have also squeezed Tesla’s profit margins.

The company is expected to unveil its robotaxi product at a closely watched event on Oct. 10 in Los Angeles as it attempts a shift in strategy, with a focus on AI-powered autonomous technologies.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)