Tesla spent greater than a yr touting that “extra inexpensive” vehicles have been on the best way, they usually lastly arrived final October, with stripped-down variations of the Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3 beginning at $39,990 and $36,990, respectively. However the brand new autos should not shifting the needle a lot for Tesla’s general gross sales, first-quarter figures present.
Tesla mentioned Thursday that it delivered 358,023 EVs globally within the first three months of the yr, beneath analysts’ expectations of round 368,000. The corporate additionally produced excess of it bought, with the ultimate tally constructed coming in at 408,386.
This implies Tesla solely delivered about 6% extra vehicles within the first quarter of this yr than it did in Q1 2025, which was the corporate’s worst quarter in years. The Q1 2025 figures have been additionally affected by the corporate shutting down manufacturing strains for just a few weeks to change some gear, that means Q1 2026 figures seemingly aren’t a lot of an actual enchancment.
The gross sales figures are putting for a corporation that when promised to develop EV gross sales 50% yearly. And the poor first quarter means Tesla now dangers seeing its general gross sales decline for a 3rd yr in a row — at a time when its earnings are additionally tanking.
Tesla just isn’t the one firm struggling to develop EV gross sales, particularly in the US. Legacy automakers have backed away from — and in some instances, outright canceled — once-grand plans and ambitions for brand new EVs. Newcomers have struggled, too. Rivian introduced Thursday morning that it shipped just over 10,000 vehicles within the first quarter, roughly the identical determine it appears to report each quarter.
Rivian does have a brand new mannequin ready within the wings, as it’s about to begin transport its cheaper R2 SUV, which ought to enhance gross sales. The corporate is banking on the R2 being massively profitable out of the gate, even if the most affordable model of it gained’t arrive till late 2027.
Tesla doesn’t have a brand new, mass-market car able to go. The corporate had been engaged on a a lot lower-cost EV that was anticipated to be priced round $25,000. However CEO Elon Musk killed the undertaking in favor of going all-in on the “CyberCab.” Rather than that $25,000 automotive, Musk as a substitute had Tesla develop the stripped-down Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3.
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The one actually new mannequin Tesla has launched over the previous few years is the Cybertruck. Whereas that outsells most different all-electric vehicles, it’s been an entire flop within the face of Tesla’s — and Musk’s — expectations for the steel-clad EV. Within the first quarter of this yr, Tesla solely bought 16,130 “different fashions,” which incorporates the Cybertruck and the now-retired Mannequin S and Mannequin X.
