Reuters
SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks at a post-launch press conference in Cape Canaveral
- Tesla reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that missed Wall Street estimates.
- Model S and X sales dropped drastically in the quarter.
- CEO Elon Musk said that's not due to cannibalization from the newer, cheaper Model 3.
Tesla reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that missed analysts' estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Among the details shared in the company's letter to shareholder were sales updates on each of Tesla's three models, and demand for its original two, the S and X, appears to be struggling.
"Deliveries of Model S and Model X declined to 12,100 vehicles in Q1 compared to our two- year run rate of roughly 25,000 units per quarter," the company said.
"This decline was mainly caused by weaker Q1 demand due to seasonality, pull-forward of sales into Q4 2018 in the U.S. due to the first scheduled reduction of the federal EV tax credit in Q1 and discontinuation of our 75 kWh battery pack."
There were some fears that the Model 3, which now comes at a much cheaper price than its larger counterparts, but executives were quick to discount those fears on a conference call following the earnings report.
"3.5% of trade-ins for the Model 3 are coming from the Model S," CEO Elon Musk said in response to a question, adding that its a "tiny portion" of all trade-ins. '
Tesla said the average selling price for Model 3, which currently starts at $39,500 in the US, is currently around $50,000. For comparison Models S and X start at $78,000 and $83,000, respectively.
More from Tesla's earnings report:
- Tesla posts huge loss, says deliveries are still on track despite 'aggressive schedule'
- Tesla traders are stocking up on 'crash protection' ahead of the electric-car maker's Q1 results
Get the latest Tesla stock price here.