Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ: TSLA) new vehicle registrations in the EU are continuing to drop, threatening the company's global EV delivery target for the year.
What Happened: Tesla had 11,088 vehicle registrations in the European Union in October, marking a drop of 21% from the corresponding period last year, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
This is despite battery electric vehicle registrations rising 2.4% in the EU last month to 124,907 units on the back of growing popularity in Denmark and the Netherlands.
Tesla had 192,661 new vehicle registrations in the EU from January through the end of October, marking a drop of over 11% year-on-year.
For the full year 2023, Tesla delivered 1,808,581 vehicles around the globe. To mark a growth over last year, the company has to deliver at least 514,926 vehicles in the three months through the end of December. Tesla has never managed to deliver over 500,000 EVs in a quarter to date, making this an ambitious target.
Why It Matters: In the third quarter, Tesla reported deliveries of 462,890 vehicles, up 6.4% year-over-year and up 4.3% quarter-over-quarter.
Deliveries fell 8.5% year-on-year in the first quarter and by 4.8% in the second quarter.
According to Tesla researcher Troy Teslike, the low sales in Europe are likely to impact Tesla's aim to prevent a drop in yearly deliveries.
"Tesla is trying to reach 514,925 deliveries this quarter to avoid a drop in yearly totals compared to the 1,808,581 units delivered last year. However, even if they sell out all their inventory in the US, it's still going to be tough to hit that number because sales in Europe are down too," Teslike said in a post on X earlier this week.
Price Action: Tesla stock fell 1.2% on Wednesday to close at $342.03, and declined over 1% in premarket trading on Thursday. Year-to-date, the stock is up 37.7%, according to Benzinga Pro data.