Tesla is not cool anymore

This is a topic we have already spoken to you about on Overexcited : After a record-breaking year 2023even managing to place the Model Y in first place in global car sales, Tesla drinks the cup in 2024.

Sales figures are indeed down all over the world, and an article by Business Insider focuses on California, a US state that is extremely important for the brand and the electric car market in the country. And cites the possible reasons for Californians’ disenchantment with Tesla.

Sales in free fall

The numbers hurt: According to the California New Car Dealers Association, Tesla sales there fell by 24% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year – and this is the third consecutive quarter of decline.

Problem: California is the largest U.S. market for electric cars, accounting for nearly a third of national sales. The impact is tangible: for the first time, Tesla’s share of the U.S. electric car market has grown below 50%.

Elon Musk, its CEO, explains this drop in American sales by high interest rates and an uncertain economic context, particularly in view of the imminent presidential elections.

An explanation undermined by the numbers : Still in the second quarter of 2024, sales of electric cars jumped 23% in the US compared to the first quarter and 11% compared to the previous year. In addition, California had its second best quarter ever recorded in the field, with 118,181 electric cars sold. What’s happening?

Many possible reasons

In fact, there are many possible explanations for this lack of love. The first is that the emergence of finally competitive competition.

California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke on the subject on Forbes : “Tesla is no longer the exclusive manufacturer in the field”he said. “We are seeing a radical change in competition across the industry. It is exactly what we predicted. It is exactly what we have encouraged: competition in this industry.”citing in particular the progress of Rivian and Ford.

Second possible source: the very personality of Elon Musk. The head of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) multiplies controversial speechesnotably by showing his support for Donald Trump for the presidential election this fall.

He has more transferred the head offices Tesla, X and SpaceX from California to Texas, particularly following the publication of a California decree concerning the rights of transgender people in the state’s public schools. Tesla still has its development center and factory in Fremont, in the San Francisco Bay Area, but this decision may have offended Californians, a historically Democratic state.

“That could be the element that pushes someone to take the step and who is a little hesitant”explains Ivan Drury, automotive analyst for Edmunds. “Do they really want to go down this path when there is relevant competition?”.

Third possible source of the drop in sales: the aging range Tesla. The Cybertruck has been on the market for a few months now, but its price, starting at $99,990, is not affordable for everyone.

To go further
We climbed aboard the Tesla Cybertruck: the electric car of all superlatives

The Tesla Model 3 was refreshed last year, and the Model Y will get one next year, but the lineup lacks any significant new features. What might be frowned upon: “In California, we always wonder if [quelque chose] is cool or is it the latest thing”says Brian Moody, editor of Auto Trader. “And Tesla has done little to answer that question.”.

A return to business in 2025?

Because yes: when the Roadster came out in 2008, then the Model S in 2012, driving a Tesla was considered the height of cooland Hollywood stars had then gotten rid of their Toyota Priuses, former emblems of ecological awareness, for Elon Musk’s cars. A situation clearly not really relevant anymore.

The solution may come from Cybercaba 100% autonomous taxi, which will be presented in the fall, from the (now very hypothetical) Tesla at $25,000 or mysterious “more affordable” models promised for 2025, which could reconcile Tesla with Californians (and the rest of the world)?

In any case, its place as world leader in the field of electric cars seems more fragile than ever in 2024, with the rise of BYD, its biggest Chinese competitor. Perhaps this is simply the end of Tesla’s monopoly in the electric car sector, with the emergence of a new era, marked by increased diversity.

Tesla electric cars remain excellent options (as our tests show) and still benefit from the brand’s advantages: the dense, reliable and economical Supercharger network, frequent remote updates and often attractive prices.

The fact remains that this Californian paradigm shift is interesting to follow, and clearly demonstrates the evolution of the brand in the eyes of consumers – and, more generally, of the electric car market as a whole.