A Tesla with its logo covered in snow in Norway in January 2025 (Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images)

Tesla is struggling in the US as its aging lineup faces new competition

Elon Musk’s electric-car company is looking more and more like struggling European automakers.

1/14/25 9:42AM

Last year, electric-vehicle sales in the US grew to 1.3 million, up 7.3% from 2023, according to a new report by Cox Automotive. But sales of Teslas, the top-selling EV maker in the country, declined by nearly 40,000 (or 5.6%) in 2024, as its aging lineup faces new competition.

That puts Elon Musk’s electric-car company more in line with struggling European automakers like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. But as Sherwood previously noted, lower vehicle sales would typically cause a company’s stock to drop. That hasn’t been the case with Tesla, whose stock has been riding high on Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Analysts have even made the bull case that Tesla’s stock could double as it transitions from electric vehicles to a yet to be executed autonomous ride-sharing business.

While Tesla’s global delivery numbers declined about 1% overall in 2024 — its first annual drop in more than a decade — growth in other markets like China helped offset the larger US decline. Tesla doesn’t break out regional deliveries, but Cox’s numbers track with other analyst estimates.

Despite the drop, Tesla still represented 44% of EV sales in the US in Q4, Cox data shows. It was followed by Ford at 8%.

Max Knoblauch10/24/25

Premium seats help push airlines higher following third-quarter results

Shares of American Airlines are climbing toward the carrier’s best trading day since August 12, when ultra-budget rival Spirit issued its initial warning about its ability to survive. American’s shares are up more than 7% on Friday afternoon.

Investors’ optimism comes a day after American posted a better-than-expected full-year earnings forecast. In a call with investors, American said that it’s ramping up its premium cabin offerings.

“Our ability to grow capacity in premium markets will be further supported as we take delivery of new aircraft and reconfigure our existing fleet. These efforts will allow us to grow our premium seats at nearly two times the rate of main cabin seats,” CEO Robert Isom said. American CFO Devin May said that nose-to-tail retrofits of certain wide-body jets will bump the number of premium seats available on those planes by 25%.

Extra legroom has been a boon for major carriers, particularly this quarter. Delta Air Lines said its premium product revenue grew 9% in Q3, compared to a 4% drop in economy seat revenue. Similarly, United Airlines said its premium revenue grew 6%, outpacing economy. Shares of both airlines were up more than 3% on Friday.

Carriers with less exposure to first- and business-class tickets like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue didn’t see the same amount of momentum on the day.