Tesla sales continue to slide amid competition and backlash against Elon Musk

Los Angeles Times

9 hours ago

As Elon Musk scrambles to restore Tesla's reputation and deliver on promises of autonomous driving technology, vehicle sales for the company continued to fall last quarter.
Tesla delivered 384,122 vehicles in the quarter through June, down 13% from 443,956 deliveries a year ago.
The drop in deliveries is a result of increased competition, plateauing demand for electric vehicles and brand damage triggered by Musk's role in the Trump administration, experts said.
Though Tesla remains the dominant force in the electric vehicle market, major manufacturers including Ford and Chevy have released their own electric vehicles. Startups such as Irvine-based Rivian have also cut into Tesla's market share.
At the same time, demand growth for electric vehicles has flattened as the market becomes saturated, analysts said.
In February, Tesla topped the list of brands that lost the most resale value year over year, according to Karl Brauer, an analyst with iSeeCars.com. The price of a used Tesla Model S and Model Y each dropped by about 16% in February from a year earlier, he said.
'It could be that nobody wants to buy them anymore, or that there's a massive influx of them available, or both,' Brauer said in an interview in March.
Rivian reported lower than expected production numbers on Wednesday, signaling trouble throughout the industry. The company assembled nearly 6,000 trucks, SUVs and delivery vans in the second quarter, falling short of Wall Street estimates of more than 11,300.
Tesla's disappointing delivery numbers follow a bumpy first quarter, which saw a 71% drop in profits and 9% drop in revenue from a year earlier.
Though Musk has stepped down from his position in government, helping lead the Department of Government Efficiency, his time in the White House alienated some of his liberal-leaning customers.
Tesla drivers who were drawn to the environmental benefits of electric vehicles are growing embarrassed by their cars' association with Musk, The Times has reported. Several celebrities have ditched their Teslas as part of a public stand against the company.
The brand damage spread outside the U.S. to Europe, where monthly sales in 32 countries fell nearly 50% in April. Tesla analyst Dan Ives predicted that 5% to 10% of the brand damage sustained during Musk's stint in the White House will be permanent.
'Tesla has become a political symbol around the world and that's not a good thing,' Ives said last month.
Tesla is increasingly banking its future on self-driving technology and autonomous taxi operations. Last month, the company began selectively testing self-driving Model Y vehicles in Austin, Texas.
According to claims Musk has made, Tesla drivers will one day be able to sleep in their car as it drives them across the country. Tesla's robotaxis will roam city streets, and humanoid robots dubbed Optimus will perform everyday tasks.
'Musk's top priority should be autonomy and robotics,' Ives said. 'With these technologies, I believe Tesla's market cap could reach $2 trillion.'
The company is currently valued at $989 billion. Tesla shares have fallen more than 16% this year.