Tesla sales plummeted to their lowest level in three years.
The electric car maker delivered nearly 337,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2025, a 13% drop year-over-year and the largest decline in the company’s history.
Tesla’s cars are facing increasing competition from Chinese firm BYD, but experts believe Musk’s controversial role in the Trump administration has also played a role.
The company has attributed the sales decline to the transition to a new version of its most popular car.
However, some analysts have blamed Musk himself.
“These numbers are disgusting,” wrote one of Tesla’s early investors, Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, in X.
“The brand is broken and may not be fixed,” added Gerber, who once supported Musk but recently called on the board to remove the billionaire as CEO.
Protests against Tesla
Protests and boycotts are occurring around the world due to Musk’s outspoken and controversial political involvement.
The Tesla CEO is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, spearheaded by President Donald Trump, to cut federal spending and reduce public employee payrolls.
Politico reported Wednesday that Trump had informed his inner circle that Musk would be leaving office in the coming weeks. Shortly after this information was published, Tesla’s stock price returned to positive territory, following initial declines on Wednesday.
The White House dismissed the information as “garbage.”
As a special government employee, Musk is legally only allowed to serve 130 days in the administration this year, which would put his departure around June.
The Tesla CEO is the richest man in the world and contributed more than $250 million to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
In recent weeks, Musk invested millions of dollars in a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, supporting former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, who suffered a resounding defeat on Tuesday.
Backlash against Musk has included protests at Tesla dealerships in the United States and Europe.
Tesla vehicles have also been vandalized, and Trump said his administration will charge those who damage them with “domestic terrorism.”
Musk’s management of his businesses, including Tesla, is under scrutiny.
In a recent interview, he admitted that he ran his companies “with great difficulty,” adding, “Frankly, I can’t believe I’m here doing this.”
Tesla shares have lost more than a quarter of their value since the beginning of this year.
“We’re not going to see these numbers as rosy… they’re a disaster in every respect,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Wednesday.
“The more political Musk becomes with DOGE, the more the brand suffers; there’s no debate.”
Tesla Downplays Sales Decline
Tesla did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
But it said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the figures released Wednesday “represent only two measures” of the company’s performance and “should not be relied upon as an indicator of quarterly financial results.”
These results will be published in a full quarterly earnings report on April 22. “They will depend on various factors, including average price, cost of sales, currency fluctuations, and others,” Tesla stated.
It also said it temporarily suspended production of its Model Y sports vehicles in January.
Following the release of Wednesday’s report, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the most powerful unions in the United States, wrote to dozens of public pension funds about Tesla’s situation, saying the company’s latest sales figures were “shaping up to be disastrous.”
He urged them to carefully analyze their stake in Tesla and the steps its fund managers are taking to “protect retirement assets.”
“These declines appear to be due in part to Musk spending his time on political activities, some of which appear to conflict with Tesla’s brand and business interests, rather than on running the company,” Weingarten wrote.
The New York City comptroller has already announced he is seeking to sue Tesla on behalf of the city’s massive pension systems, claiming Tuesday that they had lost more than $300 million in three months due to the company’s plummeting stock price.
“Elon Musk is so distracted that he is driving Tesla into financial ruin,” Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement.