When Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk reads something he doesn’t like, he takes to Twitter. But this time, he is being called out on his blast of theWall Street Journal. The Journal included some sales data from Ward’s Automotive in reporting, along with USA TODAY, on the electric car maker’s plans for a new leasing deal and “happiness guarantee” for those who lease. It shows that sales of the Model S are down in the U.S. this year.
Musk leaped to Twitter to fight back. “Article in @WSJ re Tesla sales is incorrect,” he wrote. “September was a record high WW and up 65% year-over-year in North America.” Apparently it worked: Tesla shares rocketed 9.5% Tuesday to $242,77 a share, up $21.10. But was Musk right?
Fortune, looking at the tweet and sales figures, questions whether Musk is “guilty of some terminological inexactitude.” Comparisons of Tesla’s sales numbers are difficult because the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company reports quarterly, while the rest of the industry discloses them monthly. As a result, the sales-counting service that USA TODAY depends on, Autodata, says its monthly tally of Tesla U.S. sales “are based on Tesla’s quarterly estimates and our internal validation process. The numbers are estimates but (Autodata believes they) are indicative of actual sales results.”
They indeed showed a drop in Tesla’s sales numbers in the U.S., both in September and so far this year, compared to the same periods last year. Autodata says Tesla sold 1,650 cars in September, down 15.4% from a year earlier. The nine months through September, by Autodata’s count, Tesla sold 13,850, down 3.2%. Analyst Brian Johnson, in a note to investors Monday, wondered whether Tesla sales have “plateaued” in the U.S. even as the company now can deliver better financing terms to cut monthly lease payments.