Tesla deliveries fall 8.6% in 2025 after steep fourth-quarter slide

Tesla published its final production and delivery numbers this morning, reporting that sales fell 8.6 percent in 2025 to 1,636,129 vehicles.

Sales were down almost 16 percent in the final three months of the year, meaning the company sold 77,343 fewer electric vehicles than in the same period in 2024. For the full year Tesla sold 153,097 fewer cars than in 2024, a total which the article says is more than it managed to shift in 2023.

The piece identified several contributing factors, including heavy reliance on the Model 3 and Model Y and only a mild cosmetic refresh that left both models feeling less modern than competitors from Europe and Asia. It also singled out the Cybertruck, which it said was supposed to cost less than $40,000 and go into production in 2021, as having "been a disaster, eclipsing the Edsel," and said its failure has affected Tesla’s in-house battery‑cell project.

Last week Electrek reportedly said South Korean supplier L&F wrote down its $2.9 billion contract with Tesla to $7,386, a drop of more than 99 percent. The article also said Elon Musk has not dialed back his embrace of the far right, cratering sales in markets like California and Europe. It is not clear from the published numbers what steps Tesla will take next.

Key Topics

Business, Tesla, Elon Musk, Cybertruck, L&f