Tesla sales slumped 11.5% in China in January

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including the toll the California wildfires are taking on insurance companies.

Transcript

00:00A sales slump at Tesla has extended into the new year.

00:04In China, sales were down 11.5% in January.

00:07Tesla isn't keeping up with fierce homegrown competition.

00:11For example, during the same period,

00:13Chinese automaker BYD saw its sales surge 47%.

00:18Elon Musk's attempts to revive lagging sales

00:20in that key market don't appear to be working.

00:24Tesla has cut prices on the Model Y

00:26and kept a five-year interest-free loan program

00:28in place until the end of January.

00:31It also revamped the Model Y

00:33specifically for the Chinese market,

00:35but to little success.

00:37The slump, however, is not limited to China.

00:40Global sales were down for all of 2024,

00:44and the trend continues across Europe.

00:46Sales in January tumbled 59% in Germany,

00:5063% in France, and 12% in Britain.

00:54Musk has used his position as the world's richest man

00:57to voice controversial political opinions

00:59that are turning off car buyers.

01:02His close association with President Trump

01:04and his inclusion in US government affairs

01:06is further alienating buyers across major Western nations.

01:11But it's not just Musk's political leanings

01:13that are a problem.

01:14Tesla has yet to produce an affordable mass-market EV.

01:18Analysts believe that is the key

01:21to any possible sales revival for Tesla.

01:25Turning now to market news this Friday,

01:27there's a mildly negative tone to the stock market

01:30after the January jobs report.

01:32The US economy added fewer jobs than expected,

01:34but the December number was revised sharply higher.

01:38The unemployment rate fell to 4%.

01:40Meanwhile, wages jumped 4.1% from the same time last year.

01:45The report gives the Federal Reserve more breathing room

01:48before it has to decide what to do next with interest rates.

01:52That'll do it for your daily briefing

01:54from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:56I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.