Tesla Just Got Some Absolutely Horrible News

Elon Musk's Tesla has posted its first-quarter deliveries — and the numbers are even worse than analysts feared. The carmaker said it delivered 336,681 vehicles for the January-March period, a massive drop from 386,810 cars over the same period last year. It's a sizable, 13 percent drop in sales, highlighting that a rapidly growing competition and an international movement opposing Musk's politics is exerting considerable pressure on the firm. The company's shares dropped by more than six percent when markets opened on Wednesday. As Reuters reports, the Q1 numbers are even worse than the average estimates of 15 analysts from […]

Apr 2, 2025 - 17:01

Tesla Just Got Some Absolutely Horrible News

Elon Musk's Tesla has posted its first-quarter deliveries — and the numbers are even worse than analysts feared.

The carmaker said it delivered 336,681 vehicles for the January-March period, a massive 13 drop from 386,810 cars over the same period last year.

It's a rout, in other words, showing that rapidly growing competition and an international movement opposing Musk's politics are exerting considerable pressure on the once-ascendant electric carmaker.

Sales haven't been this low since the second quarter of 2022, as Bloomberg reports. The company's shares slid by around five percent when markets opened on Wednesday.

As Reuters reports, the Q1 numbers are even worse than the average estimates of 15 analysts from the firm Visible Alpha, who forecasted the company would report 372,410 vehicles delivered. Estimates compiled by Bloomberg expected Tesla to sell more than 390,000 cars and trucks.

The EV maker is already in dire straits, with sales in Europe and many other parts of the world tanking. Musk has taken increasingly desperate measures to pump the company's flailing stock, which has seen considerable volatility since president Donald Trump was elected.

In his latest attempt, Musk tried to distract from the disastrous numbers by showing off a video of the company's Optimus robot walking this morning, arguing that it will be the "biggest product of all time."

Musk also tried to claim that the Model Y was the best-selling vehicle in China, in an apparent attempt to paint its latest redesign of the SUV as a success. However, the vehicle has only been on the market for a single month and is already being offered with zero percent financing, as Electrek points out.

Trump has added to the chaos with his trade war, most recently announcing a 25 percent tariff on all cars, light trucks and auto parts imported into the US. The move is expected to be "devastating" for the auto industry.

While Musk has argued that "tariff impact on Tesla is still significant," experts have pointed out that the company could fare a lot better than its competitors thanks to its formidable manufacturing presence in the US.

Meanwhile, Musk's continued gutting of the federal government has proven extremely divisive, sparking global backlash and leading to largely peaceful — and occasionally violent — demonstrations at dealerships.

And zooming out, Musk's abhorrent behavior has left a major black mark on the company's brand, with Tesla owners trying to ditch their vehicles in record numbers.

It's the second major defeat for the mercurial CEO this week. After spending $25 million — and even wearing a cheesehead during a rally — trying to secure a pivotal seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, liberal candidate judge Susan Crawford easily beat Musk's pick, judge Brad Schimel, in an election on Tuesday.

More on Tesla: It's Never Been More Over For Tesla

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