Tesla published its final production and delivery numbers this morning, and they make for brutal reading. Sales were down almost 16 percent during the final three months of last year, meaning the company sold 77,343 fewer electric vehicles than it did during the same period in 2024.

For the entire year, the decline looks slightly better with a drop of 8.6 percent year over year. That means Tesla sold 1,636,129 cars in 2025, 153,097 fewer than it managed in 2024. Which in turn is more than it managed to shift in 2023.

Sales issues

Contributing factors to the poor sales are legion. The brand still relies on the Models 3 and Y to an overwhelming extent, and other than a mild cosmetic refresh, neither feels fresh or modern compared with competitors from Europe and Asia.

And Elon Musk’s much-hyped Cybertruck—which was supposed to cost less than $40,000 and go into production in 2021, lest anyone forget—has been a disaster, eclipsing the Edsel. Its failure has taken down another company initiative, Tesla’s “in-house battery cell.” It was initially designed specifically for the Cybertruck, although the CEO later claimed it would be used for static storage as well as EVs. But apparently, it has become the victim of a lack of demand. Last week, Electrek reported that Tesla’s South Korean battery material supplier L&F wrote down its $2.9 billion contract with Tesla to just $7,386. A drop of more than 99 percent.

Musk has not dialed back his embrace of the far right, cratering sales in markets like California and Europe, where EV buyers often use their consciences to guide their wallets.