Tesla has sluggish start to the year with first annual sales decline since 2011 [Video]

Tesla posted its first annual sales drop in more than a dozen years on Thursday, sinking a stock that has soared since Donald Trump’s victory on optimism that CEO Elon Musk’s close relationship with the president-elect will help the company.

Tesla’s global vehicle sales rose 2.3 per cent in the final quarter thanks to zero per cent financing, free charging and low-priced leases. But that was not enough for billionaire Musk’s most valuable holding to overcome a sluggish start to 2024.

The company, based in Austin, Texas, sold 495,570 vehicles from October through December, boosting deliveries to 1.79 million for the full year. But that was 1.1 per cent below 2023 sales of 1.81 million, as overall demand for electric vehicles in the United States and elsewhere slowed.

The year-over-year global sales drop is Tesla’s first since 2011, according to figures from analytics firm Global Data. The company sold 1,306 …