Tesla has reported a 13.5% year-on-year drop in worldwide sales for the second quarter of 2025—but its stock rose almost 5% Wednesday because analysts had expected an even steeper fall. Tesla said it delivered 384,122 cars in the quarter, down almost 60,000 from the same period a year earlier. That's a record drop for the company, which reported a 13% year-on-year drop in the first quarter, CNN reports. Before last year, the automaker's only quarterly drop was in 2020, when the pandemic disrupted the industry.
Analysts say sales have been hit by Elon Musk's political activities—including his role in the Trump administration and his recent clashes with the president, the Wall Street Journal reports. "While the situation remains fluid, we believe the disagreement will not help Tesla demand but could potentially (temporarily) alienate multiple sides of the political spectrum," Morgan Stanley said of the falling-out with Trump in a June note to investors.
Another factor, the New York Times reports, is that Musk "has been seemingly indifferent to slumping vehicle sales," preferring to focus on developing autonomous driving technology instead of new car models to compete with rivals. CNN reports that when the year-end figures are out, Tesla could lose its crown as the world's biggest maker of electric vehicles. Chinese automaker BYD said Wednesday that it had sold 1 million vehicles in the first half of 2025, compared to around 721,000 for Tesla.
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