The leading U$.$S$.$ electric$-$vehicle maker also drew buyers eager to take advantage of government incentives that will be harder to get in $2024.$

Tesla sales jumped during the last three months of $2023$ after the carmaker slashed prices and customers rushed to take advantage of tax breaks on electric vehicles $--$ provisions that will be harder to come by in $2024.$

The company said on Tuesday that it sold $484,500$ cars in the fourth quarter, up from $435,000$ in the third quarter and $405,000$ in the fourth quarter of $2022.$ For the full year, Tesla sold $1\mathrm{.}8$ million vehicles. The gains put Tesla on track to sell more than two million cars in $2024,$ potentially overtaking established carmakers like Mercedes$-$Benz and Renault.

The rebound in sales during the fourth quarter should help calm investor concerns about whether Tesla can defend its dominance of the market for electric vehicles as it faces increased competition from traditional carmakers.

During the last year, Tesla has lost market share to rivals like General Motors, Hyundai, Ford Motor and Volkswagen as they introduced more electric vehicles. Tesla accounts for half the electric cars sold in the United States. In $2022,$ Tesla accounted for two$-$thirds of the market.

Another electric vehicle maker, Rivian, said on Tuesday that it sold nearly $14,000$ vehicles in the last three months of the year. That number was up substantially from a year earlier but down about $10$ percent from the third quarter.

In China, the largest market for electric cars, Tesla faces intense competition from BYD and other Chinese automakers. BYD sold $526,000$ fully electric cars worldwide in the fourth quarter, exceeding Tesla, a milestone that many auto analysts had been expecting given the Chinese company's rapid growth.

Chinese automakers have moved faster in offering a wide range of affordable electric models as the market has expanded beyond the affluent early adopters of technology. They are the core customers who have bought Teslas for as long as the company has been around.

Question : Discuss the important events raised in the above article and explain how they affect the industry or the firm under study based on Demand and supply concepts in microeconom. Expand the discussion in the news article by covering more references about the issue.