Tesla sales plunge in second consecutive quarter
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The news: Tesla continued a steep slide in auto sales in June, as the company tries to pivot into autonomous vehicles and undo consumer backlash against the brand and its CEO, Elon Musk.
The numbers: Tesla’s global vehicle sales fell 13.5% in the second quarter, with a final tally of 384,122 units, missing analyst’s expectations of 387,000 deliveries, according to FactSet.
The company now has an almost 110,000-car deficit to overcome in the second half in order to return to growth this year, Bloomberg reports.
The weak results mean that the carmaker is on track to deliver its second consecutive annual decline in vehicle sales. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg are on average projecting the company will deliver around 1.65 million vehicles in 2025, a roughly 8% drop from 1.79 million last year.
Shares in the EV maker were trading up 5.1% at 9:15am ET on Wednesday morning.
The context: The company has been updating its vehicles and offering low-cost financing to build consumer interest, refreshing its Model Y midsize SUV, a streamline version of its Cybertruck and new updates to its Models S and X luxury models.
The company also launched a highly-anticipated robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, last month, but the roll-out was much smaller than expected with less than 20 of the autonomous vehicles put on roads.
Musk previously said the program could one day add USD5-USD10 trillion to Tesla’s market cap.
Musk stepped away from his role as chief of DOGE, Trump’s government spending and efficiency initiative, as public backlash toward his proximity to the Trump administration spurred vandalism and drops in Tesla sales.
Trump and Musk have evolved from former allies to foes, with their social media spat reaching a new climax earlier this week as Trump suggested he would “look into” having Musk deported.
The news followed a modest increase in Tesla’s vehicle deliveries from its Shanghai factory. Earlier on Wednesday data released by China’s Passenger Car Association said Telsa delivered 71,599 units from the plant in June, an 0.8% increase from a year earlier and 16% rise on May results.
