Musk reports Tesla sales jump after months of boycotts, but experts
suspect more pain is in store
[October 03, 2025] By
BERNARD CONDON
NEW YORK (AP) — Months after Elon Musk left the Trump administration to
the relief of Tesla investors worried about boycotts, the world's
richest man has announced some good news: Sales of Tesla cars are back.
Well, maybe.
The electric vehicle maker run by Musk reported Thursday that car sales
jumped 7% in the three months through September after plunging for most
of the year as people turned off by his embrace of President Donald
Trump and far-right politicians in Europe balked at buying his cars.
But the jump comes with a caveat: Tesla benefited from consumers taking
advantage of a $7,500 tax credit before it expired on Sept. 30, a surge
in buying that helped all EV makers.
In fact, many Tesla rivals saw sales rise more. Rivian Automotive
reported a 32% increase.
Tesla stock rose sharply on the sales news, but closed the day down 4.5%
to $439 amid skepticism the new number really signals a turnaround given
all the anti-Musk backlash.
“I don’t think most people are any more enamored with Elon now than they
were a few months ago," said Telemetry Insight's Sam Abuelsamid. "I
expect this is more a blip for Tesla than the restart of growth.”
Even Tesla bull Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities was cautious, noting
there are "still demand issues.”
Still, it was a blowout number with sales hitting 497,099 vehicles
versus 462,890 in the same period last year. Analysts expected a small
drop to 456,000.
Investors cheered Musk’s decision in April to leave Washington for
Austin, Texas, where Tesla is headquartered. But he is still heavily
involved in political and social wars, alienating potential car buyers.
On Wednesday, he posted on X that he was canceling his Netflix
subscription because of critical comments made by the creator of a show
on the streaming service, which appeared to spark a wave of
cancellations in turn.
The sharp fall in Tesla stock Thursday was remarkable as investors have
been surprisingly optimistic about the company in recent weeks despite
terrible financial figures.
Investors drove the stock up 34% in September alone in a bet that Musk’s
planned new cheaper version of his bestselling Model Y will recharge
sales. Musk has also been successful in shifting investor attention away
from cars to other aspects of the business — the rollout of its
driverless robotaxi service planned for several cities and its Optimus
robots for factory work and household chores.
Driving the stock higher has also been Musk’s apparent renewed focus on
the company.
[to top of second column] |
Elon Musk speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the
Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
 To hold his attention, Tesla's board
proposed last month a pay package that would allow Musk to earn $1
trillion if he meets certain financial goals over the next several
years. The pay offer, unprecedented for U.S. companies known for
outsized CEO compensation, drew criticism from Pope Leo in an
interview lamenting widening income gaps.
If Musk meets the goals, he could set a record on top of his own
record. He recently became the first person ever to hit $500 billion
in net worth, at least according to rich list compiler Forbes
magazine.
The 7% sales rise in the last quarter compares with a 13% dropped in
the first three months of the year when Musk led Trump’s government
cost-cutting efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency. In
the following three months through June, sales plunged 13% again.
The anti-Musk backlash in Europe had been also been fierce. Sales
plunged 40% in more than two dozen countries after he publicly
supported far-right politicians there.
Musk said a British prime minister was an “evil tyrant” who belongs
in prison and told Germans “things will get very, very much worse”
in their country if they didn’t vote for the anti-immigrant
Alternative for Germany party. Protests broke out in several cities,
including a hanging of the billionaire in effigy in Milan and
posters in London likening him to a Nazi.
For her part, the Tesla head of the board of directors who approved
Musk’s latest pay package recently told Bloomberg that she is not
sure if Musk’s politics have had any impact on the company’s
finances. Robyn Denholm has earned nearly $700 million in
compensation for serving on the board since 2014, a package that
itself has drawn criticism.
Tesla reports third-quarter earnings later this month. Profits for
the previous quarter fell 16% as the company continued to lose
market share to European EV makers and fast-growing Chinese rivals,
such as BYD.
Musk's new robotaxi service, which began with a test-run in Austin
in June, has had some hitches with reports of the cabs stopping
suddenly for no reason and even driving in the opposing lane in one
instance. But Musk says the service will quickly roll out anyway
with launches in several other cities by the end of next year.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
