By Luc Olinga
Tesla鈥檚 struggles continue as the company reports another drop in vehicle deliveries, deepening concerns that its image problem, especially in Europe, is weighing heavily on consumer demand.
In the second quarter of 2025, the electric vehicle giant delivered 443,956 vehicles, a 13.5 percent decline from the same period in 2024. Deliveries are Tesla鈥檚 key sales metric and are closely watched by investors and analysts alike. Nearly all of those deliveries 鈥 97.3 percent 鈥 were for the company鈥檚 two most popular models: the Model 3 and Model Y.
Wall Street had expected a dip of about 10 percent, so the final number was worse than anticipated.
The drop underscores the lasting impact of Elon Musk鈥檚 political turn. Once a darling of eco-conscious and tech-savvy progressives, Tesla has alienated parts of its original customer base. The shift became more pronounced after Musk accepted a high-profile role in the Trump administration, running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an agency tasked with cutting federal spending. Under Musk, DOGE became infamous for slashing budgets without concern for what those programs did.
Musk鈥檚 vocal support for far-right political parties in the United Kingdom and Germany has also alienated European buyers, many of whom had embraced Tesla as a climate-conscious status symbol. The backlash has been especially strong in Germany, a major market for the company.
On top of the political fallout, Tesla faces increasingly aggressive competition from both Chinese automakers like BYD and domestic rivals including Ford, General Motors, and Rivian.
Despite the decline in deliveries, Tesla actually produced more vehicles this quarter, building 410,244 units, which is virtually flat compared to the same quarter last year. This hints that underlying demand might not be collapsing, or that Tesla is betting demand will return soon.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla bull, struck an optimistic note.
The numbers were 鈥渂etter than feared,鈥 Ives said on X (formerly Twitter), citing a rebound in China and interest in the refreshed Model Y. 鈥淏ig step forward.鈥
Tesla announced its 2Q delivery numbers this morning which came in at 384k vehicles well above Street whisper numbers of ~365k vehicles, which was better than feared as the company saw success with its Model Y refresh cycle in the quarter. China rebound. Big step forward 馃敟馃弳馃悅 鈥 Dan Ives (@DivesTech) July 2, 2025
Part of the bullish case is the looming expiration of the federal $7,500 EV tax credit, a key provision in President Trump鈥檚 鈥淥ne Big Beautiful Bill.鈥 The Senate version of the bill ends the credit this September, ahead of the initial calendar. Analysts believe this could spark a rush of last-minute purchases from consumers hoping to claim the credit before it disappears.
Still, Musk has been downplaying the role of vehicles in Tesla鈥檚 long-term future. In recent public comments, he emphasized that Tesla is evolving into an artificial intelligence, robotics, and software company. He pointed to Full Self-Driving (FSD), Tesla鈥檚 long-delayed autonomous driving software, and Optimus, the humanoid robot under development, as the company鈥檚 next big revenue drivers.
But so far, the results have been mixed.
Tesla鈥檚 much-hyped robotaxi service, launched in Austin last month, was limited to a handful of loyal superfans and required a human supervisor in the passenger seat. The next day, videos of the rides circulated on social media and quickly became fodder for ridicule and skepticism.
For now, the future Musk envisions 鈥 a Tesla powered by AI and robots 鈥 remains just that: a vision. And the company鈥檚 core business, selling cars, is still dealing with the fallout of a CEO who insists on mixing politics with product.