Tesla deliveries drop for second quarter amid growing backlash against Elon Musk

[midian182]

What just happened? Tesla's struggles are showing no signs of improving. The EV maker just reported a drop in vehicle deliveries for the second quarter in a row, and it was even worse than what most analysts were expecting. It comes as the company struggles to rid itself of a negative image stemming from CEO Elon Musk and his actions.

Tesla delivered 384,122 vehicles in the second quarter of 2025, marking a 13.5% decline compared to the 443,956 units a year ago. Analysts had, on average, expected deliveries to be around 394,378 vehicles, though some estimates were as low as 360,080 units – a few analysts saw the results as a success.

Tesla announced its 2Q delivery numbers this morning which came in at 384k vehicles well above Street whisper numbers of ~365k vehicles, which was better than feared as the company saw success with its Model Y refresh cycle in the quarter. China rebound. Big step forward 🔥🏆🐂

– Dan Ives (@DivesTech) July 2, 2025

Another statistic is that almost all of the deliveries, 97.3 percent of them, were for Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y, its most popular vehicles. The company refreshed the Model Y this year, but that resulted in some people delaying purchases as they waited for the new version.

Tesla's shares stood at $436 on January 20, the day Trump was inaugurated. As of today, they are $317 – a 27.2% decline.

Tesla's popularity has taken a fall this year, mostly due to Musk's (previously) close relationship with Donald Trump. Sales in Europe were down 50% in April, and there have been several protests against the firm, including a dealership in Rome being set on fire, destroying 17 vehicles. An anonymous communiqué blamed "Musk's fascist project."

Ironically, Musk's very public falling out with Trump hurt Tesla even more. The president threatened to terminate Musk's governmental subsidies and contracts in June, wiping $152 billion off Tesla's valuation.

Musk backed down in that fight, but the pair were at it again this week. In addition to a veiled threat about deporting South African-born Musk, who is a naturalized US citizen, Trump suggested that budget-cutting organization Doge, which Musk led before leaving the role, could look at the government subsidies Musk's companies receive. Once again, Tesla's shares took a dive, falling 5%.

It's not all Musk's fault, though. Tesla is now dealing with increased competition from domestic automakers and Chinese giants, especially BYD.

Musk has repeatedly said that areas beyond consumer EVs will be critical for Tesla's future success. In 2024, he claimned its Optimus robot will drive the company's valuation to $25 trillion. He previously said the robot was Tesla's most important product in development, potentially bigger than its vehicle business.

Oh nooooo

Uh oh this is gonna go viral 😭

🙈🙊 https://t.co/NMbVt2GAMt pic.twitter.com/YdrGBTJ6FM

– TexasTSLA (@TexasTSLA) June 23, 2025

There's also the robotaxi business. It recently launched in Austin, though the autonomous cars do have safety monitors in the passenger seat, a contrast to Musk's previous promise that they would launch "unsupervised, no one in the car."

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Tesla deliveries drop for second quarter amid growing backlash against Elon Musk

 

[gdavid65]

Fight woke... go broke!

fight me, or deport me...

 

[NumberNine]

Tesla vehicles are more about fashion than functionality. If you've ever found yourself suffering from a vehicle that is too easy to refuel, too affordable to own or repair, or not controversial enough for your personal attention needs, you're gonna want a brand new Tesla, or even better, a used one.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Any optimism surrounding Tesla at this point can be summed up with "Consumer's are feckless *****s that will forgor about Musk/Trump antics shortly and shut up an buy Teslas" which might have been true if either Musk or Trump actually possessed the capability of shutting up and removing themselves from the public eye.

Doesn't help that the poor management we currently suffer under is content to effectively hand the next century to China through contradictory policies, poor communication, and terrible execution.

 

[yRaz]

People keep forgetting that Tesla isn't a car company, it's a patent/intellectual property company and everyone who makes an EV pays royalties to Tesla. Tesla could never sell another EV again and they'd still make billions. They're also highly diversified in green energy and energy storage. I believe Tesla owns the mineral rights to one of the largest lithium deposits on the west coast and has the largest Lithium refinery in the US located in South West Texas.

 

[GABulldog]

Old news, onto the next story.

 

[Kashim]

People keep forgetting that Tesla isn't a car company, it's a patent/intellectual property company and everyone who makes an EV pays royalties to Tesla. Tesla could never sell another EV again and they'd still make billions. They're also highly diversified in green energy and energy storage. I believe Tesla owns the mineral rights to one of the largest lithium deposits on the west coast and has the largest Lithium refinery in the US located in South West Texas.

Complete nonsense. Once you take away Tesla's carbon credits (which the current administration plans to do) then the company is barely profitable. They will only be making 200-300 million profit a year without the carbon credits. I don't know where you got this made up BS about Tesla making billions even if they don't sell any cars, but it's ridiculous.

 

[WaphleStomp]

Let's see:
cars which can spontaneously catch on fire,
innumerable false advertising / marketing claims lawsuits filed,
software bugs, phantom braking, range drops, battery issues, touchscreen failures,
more lemons than a fruit orchard (see Tesla Lemon Law),
a CEO who:
* pumped the tech before it was real / ready, to line his pockets,
* blatantly manipulated markets / broke numerous SEC rules,
* seemingly abandoned his businesses to go play politics,
* got kicked out of Washington,
* is now being threatened with DOGE cutting off grants / business subsidies,
* is apparently being threatened with having his immigration status revoked - lol!,
* apparently has a drug problem (ketamine et al),

... yeah, I don't think I'd ever buy a Tesla, and I don't think Tesla's gonna survive.

 

[SRB]

People keep forgetting that Tesla isn't a car company, it's a patent/intellectual property company and everyone who makes an EV pays royalties to Tesla. Tesla could never sell another EV again and they'd still make billions. They're also highly diversified in green energy and energy storage. I believe Tesla owns the mineral rights to one of the largest lithium deposits on the west coast and has the largest Lithium refinery in the US located in South West Texas.

I'm not entirely sure that's the case. EV's have been around since the early 1900's, and have come and gone several times since. What you might be talking about is he's the first to invest in an ecosystem, and Ford, GM and others are paying to use that infrastructure (chargers). The EV drive systems, regenerative braking, battery systems are pretty much identical to the hybrids that have been around for years, with Toyota well ahead of most on that front.

 

[p51d007]

But I thought that now Musk has "left" Trump, won't those on the left start to "embrace" him again LOL.

 

[daffy duck]

Morons in Australia don't seen to care about Musk, sales are at 12 month highs.

 

[SRB]

Has anyone noticed that fuel prices have dropped, and EV sales in general are down across the board (exception it the one or two brands that just jumped into the market).

In other words, how much of this is Musk, and how much is just the EV fad is losing steam?

 

[3volv3d]

People keep forgetting that Tesla isn't a car company, it's a patent/intellectual property company and everyone who makes an EV pays royalties to Tesla. Tesla could never sell another EV again and they'd still make billions. They're also highly diversified in green energy and energy storage. I believe Tesla owns the mineral rights to one of the largest lithium deposits on the west coast and has the largest Lithium refinery in the US located in South West Texas.

Prius, Toyota. Why would they pay royalties.

Towns and cities of old are old infrastructure rigs and the owners hate the jocks.

You need to make actual cities of the future, better planned, from scratch. Wipe out start again. Not upgrade or polish what's basically a turd.

Ev cars are stupid. Why would you chuck 2 billion petrol/diesel cars away to make 2 billion EVs which you can't sell 2nd hand as the batteries are gimp?
Just build a better town and have rail tram and monorail.

Oh you can only do what billionaires force you to do.

 

[sreams]

Tesla vehicles are more about fashion than functionality. If you've ever found yourself suffering from a vehicle that is too easy to refuel, too affordable to own or repair, or not controversial enough for your personal attention needs, you're gonna want a brand new Tesla, or even better, a used one.

Interesting take. I own 5 cars. '09 Mini Cooper JCW Clubman, '72 BMW 2002, '67 Triumph TR4A, '66 Lotus Elan S2, and a '22 Tesla Model 3. The Tesla, over the course of a year, takes far less of my time and effort to refuel per mile driven (5 second plugin when I get home). It has required, by far, the least expense to maintain (wiper fluid)... and as far as I can tell, the vast, vast majority of car buyers don't care about politics when it comes to what they or others purchase to get them around. So no... quite the opposite of your take. I suppose that's the difference between someone with experience and someone who just has an opinion about a product they have no interest in ever owning.

 

[MagratG]

I'm wondering if they are dumping their surplus stock here in Liverpool, UK, and selling them cheap! I've keep seeing them everywhere!