DETROIT (AP) — Tesla's global sales fell for the second straight quarter despite price cuts and low-interest financing offers, another sign of weakening demand for the company's products and electric vehicles overall.
The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that it sold 443,956 vehicles from April through June, down 4.8% from 466,140 sold the same period a year ago. But the sales were better than the 436,000 that analysts had expected.
The better-than-expected deliveries pushed Tesla's stock up 10% Tuesday. The stock is down about 7% so far this year, but it has nearly erased larger losses from prior months. Tesla shares had been down more than 40% earlier in the year, but are up more than 60% since hitting a 52-week low in April.
Demand for EVs worldwide is slowing, but they're still growing for most automakers. Tesla, with an aging model lineup and relatively high average selling prices, has struggled more than other manufacturers. Still it retained the title of the world's top-selling electric vehicle maker.
For the first half of the year, Tesla sold 830,766 electric vehicles worldwide, handily beating China's BYD, which sold 726,153 EVs.
Tesla also sold over 33,000 more vehicles during the second quarter than it produced, which should reduce the company's inventory on hand at its stores.
Tesla's sales decline comes as competition is increasing from legacy and startup automakers, which are trying to nibble away at the company's market share. Most other automakers will report U.S. sales figures later Tuesday.
Tesla gave no explanation for the sales decline, which is a harbinger of what to expect when it posts second-quarter earnings on July 23.
Nearly all of Tesla’s sales came from the smaller and less-expensive Models 3 and Y, with the company selling only 21,551 of its more expensive models that include X and S, as well as the new Cybertruck.
The sales decline came despite Tesla knocking $2,000 off the prices of three of its five models in the United States in April. The company cut the prices of the Model Y, Tesla’s most popular model and the top-selling electric vehicle in the U.S., and also of the Models X and S.
The April cuts reduced the starting price for a Model Y to $42,990 and to $72,990 for a Model S and $77,990 for a Model X. Last week, Tesla lopped $2,340 off the $38,990 base price of some newly revamped Model 3s that were in the inventory shipped to its stores.
In addition, Tesla in May offered 0.99% financing for up to six years on the Model Y. In June, it offered interest as low as 1.99% for three years on the rear-wheel-drive Model 3. Typical new-vehicle interest rates average just over 7%, according to Edmunds.com.
Also during the quarter, Tesla knocked roughly a third off the price of its “Full Self Driving” system — which can’t drive itself and so drivers must remain alert and be ready to intervene — to $8,000 from $12,000, according to the company website.
Jessica Caldwell, head of insights for Edmunds.com, said Tesla is having trouble in a market where most early adopters already have EVs, and mainstream buyers are more skeptical that electric cars can meet their needs.
Tesla's “haphazard” price cuts don't work as well as they once did because consumers now expect them, she said. “We’ve seen the automaker exhaust its bag of tricks by lowering prices and increasing incentives to spur demand without much success in the U.S. market,” Caldwell said.
Also, Tesla's aging model lineup doesn’t look much different than it did years ago she said. And with price cuts, used Tesla prices tumbled. Anyone wanting a Tesla can get a far better deal buying a used one, Caldwell said.
Caldwell doesn’t see any big catalyst this year that would boost Tesla sales unless gasoline prices spike, and she said Musk's shift to the right since taking over Twitter has hurt the brand's image.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to investors Tuesday that second-quarter sales were a “huge comeback performance” for Tesla. “In a nutshell, the worst is in the rearview mirror for Tesla,” he wrote. The company, he wrote, cut 10% to 15% of its workforce to reduce costs and preserve profitability. “It appears better days are now ahead as the growth story returns,” Ives wrote.
In its letter to investors in January, Tesla predicted “notably lower” sales growth this year. The letter said Tesla is between two big growth waves, one from global expansion of the Models 3 and Y, and a second coming from the Model 2, a new, smaller and less expensive vehicle with an unknown release date.
Tesla is scheduled to unveil a purpose built robotaxi at an event on Aug. 8.
This story has been corrected to fix Tesla's first half global sales number, which was 830,966 not more than 910,000. It also has been corrected to read that Tesla's second-quarter sales number was 443,956, not from 436,956.
Tesla vehicles are stored at a shopping mall parking lot near a closed movie theater Friday, June 21, 2024, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
FILE - Unsold 2023 Model X sports-utility vehicles sit at a Tesla dealership, June 18, 2023, in Littleton, Colo. Tesla, the top selling electric vehicle maker in the world, is expected to report a second straight quarter of declining deliveries on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — A plan to stage a coup against Bolivia’s president was not what Gen. Tomás Peña y Lillo was expecting when he entered the military headquarters in La Paz last Wednesday.
The leader of Bolivia’s retired service members said he was surprised to get a call that morning from army chief Gen. Juan José Zúñiga with a request to report for talks about how to advocate for imprisoned soldiers.
It was a coveted meeting, so he rushed over to find Zúñiga surrounded by officers asking for their help in “defending democracy." Peña y Lillo claims he demurred, but tanks were already rumbling out of the barracks toward the presidential palace.
“It’s a tragicomedy,” Peña y Lillo, now a fugitive wanted for his participation in the alleged coup attempt, told The Associated Press by phone from an undisclosed location.
Like many Bolivians, he said he struggled to piece the story together, recalling how "there had been a lot of talk in the military that (Bolivian President Luis) Arce would hand the government over to Zúñiga" as protests roiled the country over shortages of dollars and fuel.
The retired general’s comments mark another surreal turn in the nation’s efforts to establish the facts of what happened on June 26, when military forces stormed downtown La Paz, stunning the country and spinning off waves of rumors from the mundane to the absurd.
A week after the purported rebellion roiled the South American country that has seen no fewer than 190 coups since its independence in 1825, Bolivians who thought they’d seen it all say they’ve never been more confused.
“This is so strange, so unbelievable,” said Marcia Tiñini, a 58-year-old teacher in La Paz. “First I believed the government and felt solidarity, but now I don’t know what to say.”
When Zúñiga and his swarm of armored vehicles disappeared from the capital's main plaza after the three-hour upheaval, President Arce hailed the retreat as a democratic victory. Bolivians rallied to denounce the attempted coup and, for a moment, it appeared the tumult might bring the polarized nation together.
But within hours, the conversation in Bolivia turned to whether a coup had occurred at all.
Before being hauled off to jail, Zúñiga claimed his mutiny was a hoax concocted by President Arce to deflect attention from a spiraling economy and a bitter political battle with his former mentor, ex-President Evo Morales. Arce strongly denies the allegations, which remain unsubstantiated.
Bolivians dissected the face-to-face confrontation between Arce and Zúñiga outside the presidential palace that triggered the general's withdrawal, offering a variety of reasons for why the attempted coup appeared staged.
“It was a kind of theater,” said retired Gen. Brig. Omar Cordero Balderrama. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a military coup being broadcast live on television. With coups, everyone knows the first thing to be taken over is the media.”
Skeptical experts have also weighed in.
“Having had my own brief experience as head of state, I can tell you that you don't just take an elevator down 16 floors to chat with the guy who moved tanks to your gates,” said Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, who briefly served as president of Bolivia in 2005-2006.
Many found it strange that the mutiny wrapped up so neatly after just a few hours. It struck them as suspicious that the chief of the armed forces, Gonzalo Vigabriel Sánchez, was nowhere to be seen as chaos consumed the capital, emerging only after Zúñiga’s sacking to attend a hasty swearing-in ceremony of new appointees where President Arce asked him to remain in his post.
“If it was a coup, the presidency would have purged the armed forces,” said Col. Jorge Santiesteban, a Bolivian security expert. "The president rewarded the commander-in-chief who didn't do anything about a major insurrection committed by his subordinate.”
It was also odd that the rebellion was led by Zúñiga, a loyalist who owes his position and high rank to President Arce.
Photos of Arce and Zúñiga shooting hoops together just days before June 26 splattered across social media. As rumors swirled about their close friendship, senior Cabinet member María Nela Prada went on Bolivian TV, unprompted, to say the two are not brothers-in-law.
Fueling the skepticism is a deep distrust in Bolivian authorities, in part stemming from unresolved tensions over former President Morales' 2019 ouster under military pressure that unleashed lethal crackdowns on protests by security forces.
“It was up to Arce to make reforms that would counter the impunity, but the president did the opposite,” said Juan Ramón Quintana, minister of the presidency under Morales. “He has deeply damaged military procedures and aggravated an institutional crisis."
Following the June 26 events, former President Morales seized on the opportunity to discredit his rival, amplifying the claims against Arce. And in an ironic twist, Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei found himself agreeing with socialist Morales, accusing Arce of fabricating the coup attempt, citing undisclosed intelligence.
At a press conference late Wednesday, Government Minister Eduardo del Castillo presented further details about what he described as Zúñiga's veritable, albeit shambolic, attempt to overthrow the government. He also claimed Zúñiga had sought to burnish his political credentials in recent weeks, touring the country and referring to himself as “planetary leader.”
At least 30 people have now been arrested in connection with last week's plot, most of them in pre-trial detention or under house arrest. Accused officers have offered accounts that fueled even stranger conspiracy theories.
The former commander of the Bolivian Air Force, Gen. Marcelo Zegarra, told prosecutors that Zúñiga enjoyed support from three diplomatic missions in La Paz — the U.S, the European Union and, interestingly, Libya.
The north African country has no embassy in Bolivia. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday she had seen “false allegations” and wanted “to make sure it’s clear that the United States had no involvement in this.” The EU has not responded publicly.
Del Castillo said authorities hadn't found evidence of foreign involvement.
Worn out by the fog of contradictory accounts and confusion, some Bolivians are throwing up their hands and tuning it all out.
In La Paz Tuesday, crowds converged over a hulking 380-kilogram (838-pound) mass of sliced pork and pickled carrots stuffed into a gigantic bun — Bolivia's bid to clinch the world record for the biggest “sandwich de chola” ever made.
“Our roasted pork with its crunchy skin," mused one attendee, Sofía Molina, as she took a steaming bite. “That represents us.”
DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina
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A woman sits at the entrance of a restaurant in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, June 28, 2024, two days after Army troops stormed the government palace in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt.(AP Photo/Carlos Sanchez)
Cholitas pose for a photo during the presentation of a giant "sandwich de chola", in La Paz, Bolivia, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Gastronomy experts and student chefs prepared the traditional Bolivian roasted pork sandwich in hopes of breaking the world's record for largest sandwich. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Soldiers return to the government palace after lowering the Bolivian national flag at Murillo square in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, June 28, 2024, two days after Army troops stormed the government palace in what Bolivia's President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Juan Jose Zuniga, former commanding general of the army, is escorted from a jail to be taken to Chonchocoro maximum security prison, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. Zuniga was detained for his involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Senior Cabinet member Eduardo del Castillo, second left, waves from a balcony police station as people detained for their involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt are escorted from their jail cells to be taken to the Chonchocoro maximum security prison, in La Paz, Bolivia, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Supporters of President Luis Arce demonstrate outside the prosecutor's office demanding jail time for Juan Jose Zuniga, former commanding general of the army, in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, June 28, 2024, two days after Army troops stormed the government palace in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Carlos Sanchez)
Bolivia's President Luis Arce pauses during an interview in La Paz, Bolivia, Friday, June 28, 2024, two days after Army troops stormed the government palace in what Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
People arrested in connection with the previous day's uprising are presented by police to the press in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024. The government announced more arrests over their alleged involvement in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Bolivian police hold the detained Juan Jose Zuniga, former general commander of the Army, in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. An apparent failed coup attempt erupted Wednesday in the country, and Zuniga appeared to be leading the rebellion. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Bolivian Minister of Government Eduardo del Castillo presents a diagram of the presidential palace, a week after armed forces took the building over in what he and President Luis Arce called a failed coup, during a news conference in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Bolivian President Luis Arce raises a clenched fist surrounded by supporters and media, outside the government palace in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday in an apparent coup attempt against Arce, but he vowed to stand firm and named a new army commander who ordered troops to stand down. (AP Photo/Rodwy Cazon Barrios)
Supporters of President Luis Arce chase soldiers as they flee from Plaza Murillo, after a failed coup attempt in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia’s government palace located in Plaza Murillo as Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
An armored vehicle and military police form outside the government palace at Plaza Murillo in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Armored vehicles rammed into the doors of Bolivia's government palace Wednesday as President Luis Arce said the country faced an attempted coup. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
Men talk in front of a newspaper kiosk in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, June 27, 2024, a day after Army troops stormed the government palace in what President Luis Arce called a coup attempt. (AP Photo/Carlos Sanchez)
