(Reuters) – Tesla fell short of expectations for third-quarter deliveries on Wednesday as it suffered from tough competition from rivals in China and Europe, causing shares of the world’s most valuable automaker to fall 3,000 in premarket trading. 5% led.

The electric vehicle maker delivered 462,890 vehicles in the three months ended September 30, up 6.4% from the previous quarter.

On average, Wall Street expected the Elon Musk-led company to deliver 469,828 vehicles, according to 12 analysts surveyed by LSEG.

In order to reach last year’s delivery figure of 1.81 million units, the company must deliver a record number of 516,344 vehicles in the fourth quarter. A deficit could cause Tesla to post its first annual decline in deliveries.

Increasing competition in the United States, a lack of European subsidies and slowing consumer spending in China weighed on Tesla’s quarterly deliveries.

Tesla is battling stiff competition from Chinese automakers like BYD and Xpeng, which are aggressively expanding their presence in the world’s largest auto market with the help of local subsidies.

However, BYD’s sales of 443,426 battery-electric vehicles in the third quarter were below Tesla’s as the Chinese electric giant focused on plug-in hybrid vehicles, whose deliveries rose more than 75% in the last quarter.

BMW led the European battery electric vehicle market for the first time in July, beating Tesla, which has been losing market share to domestic companies, according to a report from JATO Dynamics.

The price cuts and incentives have also squeezed Tesla’s profit margins.

The company is expected to unveil its Robotaxi product at a high-profile event in Los Angeles on October 10, aiming for a shift in strategy with a focus on AI-powered autonomous technologies.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)