Elon Musk’s Tesla reported a worrying 13 percent drop in EV deliveries for the first quarter of 2025, marking the company’s largest sales decline in history.
CNBC reports that Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer, experienced a significant setback as its sales plummeted by 13 percent in the first three months of 2025. The company reported delivering 336,681 cars during this period, a sharp decline from the 386,810 vehicles sold in the same quarter last year. This marks Tesla’s worst sales performance in nearly three years, with a loss of 50,000 vehicle sales compared to the previous year.
The steep drop in sales can be attributed to several factors, including the growing backlash against CEO Elon Musk and the increasing competition from other automakers entering the electric vehicle market. Musk’s involvement as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and his close ties to President Donald Trump have alienated the company’s traditional leftist customer base. Trump haters have staged protests outside Tesla showrooms and engaged in vandalism and domestic terrorism against the company’s facilities and vehicles. These incidents may have deterred potential buyers from proceeding with their Tesla purchases.
The sales decline was more severe than anticipated by Tesla analysts, who had predicted quarterly sales to be as low as 350,000 units. While Tesla does not provide a breakdown of its sales by market, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association revealed a staggering 49 percent drop in Tesla’s sales in Europe alone during the first two months of the quarter. This sharp decline occurred despite an overall 28 percent growth in electric vehicle sales on the continent, possibly due to Musk’s vocal support for far-right political parties in Germany and the UK.
In addition to the political controversy, Tesla faces increasing competition from other automakers, particularly those based in China, the world’s largest market for electric vehicles and Tesla’s second-largest market after the United States. Chinese automaker BYD reported sales of over 416,000 pure electric passenger vehicles in the quarter, a 39 percent increase from the previous year, surpassing Tesla as the world’s top seller of electric vehicles. BYD’s EVs are generally more affordable than Tesla’s and boast impressive features, such as a recently unveiled charging system that promises to provide 250 miles of range after just five minutes of charging.
Despite BYD’s success, the company and most other Chinese EV makers have not yet established a presence in the US market. However, given current sales trends, Tesla is at risk of losing its title as the world’s largest EV seller for the full year in 2025.
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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