Teslas are selling like lukewarm cakes. The carmaker said yesterday that it shipped 6% more EVs last quarter than a year ago, which is considered a letdown, because Q1 2025 was when it partially paused production and faced backlash for Elon Musk’s politics.
Wall Street was hoping for more. Last quarter was Tesla’s second worst quarter since 2022:
The 358k cars it delivered significantly undershot analysts’ projections, as well as the 408k vehicles it produced, leaving thousands of cars looking for homes.Its budget 3 and Y models accounted for 95% of deliveries, while the Cybertruck remained an offbeat purchase.
Analysts blamed the disappointing sales on Tesla’s aging lineup, rising competition, and a broader industry downturn after the Trump administration nixed a $7,500 EV tax credit last year.
No longer a car company?
Though EVs are still its bread and butter, Tesla ties its future to launching the Optimus humanoid robot this year and mass producing its autonomous taxi EV, CyberCab.
But investors may feel differently. They responded to yesterday’s performance update just like your parents reacted to your assurances that a C- in math wouldn’t hinder your rap career. Tesla’s stock fell by nearly 6% yesterday, and is down by almost 20% since the year began.
In a silver lining…soaring gas prices amid the war in Iran might be spurring some Americans to go electric. US sales of Hyundai’s EV Ioniq 5 rose by 13% last month, while Cadillac EV sales were up by 20% in Q1.—SK
