The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Tesla is expected to post sluggish first-quarter deliveries this week as the boost from its price cuts wanes and the automaker grapples with strong competition for buyers in a slowing electric-vehicle market. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that after years of rapid sales growth, Tesla is bracing for a slowdown in 2024. The company has been slow to refresh its aging models at a time when high interest rates have sapped consumer appetite for big-ticket items, and rivals such as Xiaomi in China, are rolling out cheap models. "Tesla may be witnessing price-cut fatigue with consumers and may be testing profitability levels that the company may not find acceptable," Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a report earlier this month. The dire expectations have sent Tesla's shares down nearly 30 per cent so far this year, making them the worst performer in the S&P 500 Index. Tesla is expected to deliver 458,500 vehicles in the quarter to March 31, according to analysts polled by Visible Alpha. That is higher than the 422,875 units it handed over in the same quarter last year, but would mark a decline of more than 5 per cent from the previous three months.