gee, I wonder why? Tesla sales and production slumped heavily in Q1 2025 The numbers are going the wrong way for a company valued on continuing growth. Jonathan M. Gitlin Apr 2, 2025 10:34 am | 0 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 22: Demonstrators gather for a protest against Elon Musk and electric car maker Tesla on February 22, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. Credit: David Ryder/Getty Images SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 22: Demonstrators gather for a protest against Elon Musk and electric car maker Tesla on February 22, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. Credit: David Ryder/Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreTesla posted its production and sales numbers for the first quarter of 2025 this morning, and they continue the bad news streak for the electric automaker. Tesla produced 362,615 vehicles in total between January and the end of March, a 16.3 percent decrease from the same period in 2024.The drop in sales was a little less bad; unlike this time last year, Tesla was able to more closely match production with demand. As a result, the company delivered 336,681 EVs in Q1, a drop of 12.9 percent compared to Q1 2024.The Models 3 and Y make up the vast majority of Tesla's businessit built 345,454 of them in Q1 2025, a 16.2 percent reduction compared to the same period last year. Despite a recent refresh for the Model Y, which comprised the majority of these two EVs, sales declined by 12.4 percent year-over-year, with just 323,800 being sold, compared to 386,810 for Q1 2024.Things look even worse for the even more outdated Models S and X and the often-recalled Cybertruck. Production for these EVs fell by 18.3 percent year-over-year to 17,161 units in Q1 2025, with sales dropping year-over-year by 24.3 percent to just 12,881.Things were slightly rosier for Tesla's energy storage business, which deployed 10.4 GWh, but this part of the business contributes a small fraction to the bottom line; in 2024, automotive sales accounted for 77 percent of revenues.Much of Tesla's sales collapse has occurred in Europe, where customers are displaying even greater revulsion for CEO Elon Musk's political activity than here in the US. But protests at US Tesla stores are becoming a weekly event, as a majority of Americans disapprove of his interference with the federal government. In the US and abroad, Tesla stores and storage lots have been vandalized and cars have been destroyed. The fall in sales is greater than most market analysts were expectingthey had predicted between 360,000 and 370,000 deliveries for the quarter.These sales numbers are the automaker's worst for several years, but we have to wait until April 22 for the full extent to be revealed, when Tesla publishes its first quarter financial results. Its profit marginwhich briefly rivaled that of OEMs like Ferrari and Porschewas barely half the industry average at just 6.2 percent for Q4 2024.However, it seems that Tesla investors aren't too fazed by these details. Although Tesla was trading below yesterday's closing price at the start of trading this morning, that has steadily been reversing itself, leaving a very long way to go for the price to fall into the $114$100 zone, where it's thought that CEO Musk would face a margin call.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 0 Comments