Tesla sales rise but still fall short of expectations

NEW YORK

Sales of Tesla vehicles rose in the past three months after a brutal year of boycotts over Elon Musk's politics but still fell short of expectations.

The company reported that sales rose 6 percent to 358,023 in the three months through March, the first time in three years it posted a first-quarter increase from the year-earlier period. The increase follows a year of plunging sales due to an aging lineup and boycotts over Musk's right-wing political stands.

Still, the results disappointed investors.

One reason was that sales were 6 percent lower than the 381,000 that financial analysts had expected. And they were sharply off from the sales for the three months ended in December.

Tesla has had to contend with lower demand due to the September expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers, a blow to sales across the industry.

The company is hoping cheaper versions of Tesla models X and 3 introduced late last year will eventually lift sales. Tesla is also now producing a self-driving Cybercab with no steering wheel to attract customers.

Details on the new offerings could come out on April 22 when Tesla reports quarterly earnings.

Still, the stock is trading 30 percent higher than a year ago.

That reflects a marketing victory of sorts for Musk who has been telling investors to focus less on car sales and more on the company's chances of dominating a future in which fewer people own cars, self-driving Tesla robotaxis are nearly everywhere and Telsa's Optimus robots are taking over for humans in factories and homes.

Before that future comes, if it does, European and Chinese EV makers are stealing market share. Chinese maker BYD recently reported it had made 2.26 million electric vehicles last year versus Tesla's 1.64 million to become the new record holder .