8:43 am, April 3, 2025
Tesla’s global sales spiralled to their lowest level for almost three years in the first three months of 2025 as the company continues to feel the impact of Elon Musk’s controversial behaviour.
The EV giant saw sales tumble 13% over the first quarter of the year amid international criticism of Musk and his apparent support for far right political causes.
Experts have also pointed to shrinking demand in China and an aging product lineup as major drivers of the poor result.
The company told investors yesterday that it delivered the sale of 336,681 vehicles in the three months to the end of March, representing its weakest performance since the second quarter of 2022.
The latest sales figures also fell well short of the 390,000 figure predicted by industry analysts.
Tesla said it produced 362,615 vehicles in total over the quarter with the slump coming despite significant discounts, zero financing and other incentives by the company to stimulate demand.
Trading was significantly knocked by overhauls at the firm’s factories across the globe to make its redesigned Model Y, resulting in major supply disruptions.
In a statement, the Texas-based company said: ‘While the changeover of Model Y lines across all four of our factories led to the loss of several weeks of production in Q1, the ramp of the new Model Y continues to go well.
‘Thank you to all our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve these results.’
Last week, Car Dealer published a special video and feature exploring the impact of Musk’s political activities on the Tesla brand.
His controversial views have sparked protests at Tesla sites all over the world, particularly in Europe and Asia.
Reacting to the latest figures, Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘There’s no way to sugarcoat it, Tesla’s first-quarter delivery numbers are a disappointment, though many investors were already preparing for a soft number.
‘A drop from last year is no surprise, but the scale is worse than many had expected.’
