OUCH: Tesla Deliveries Collapse as Elon’s Empire Implodes in Q1 Meltdown—Why?!

Before we jump into today's article, Happy Liberation Day! 

Me to President Trump right now: “I’m tired of this Grandpa!”

Trump: “Well that’s just too d*mn bad!”

(Source: Tenor) 

Now back to our regularly scheduled program…

It appears Tesla just posted the kind of Q1 numbers that make even the most diamond-handed Elon mouth breathers reach for the sell button with tears in their eyes. Deliveries for the first quarter came in at 336,681—down 13% year over year, and way below the Street’s low-end whisper of 360K. If you’re wondering whether this is bad: yes, it’s bad. Like, “hey maybe we should’ve spent less time sh*t posting and more time building cars” bad.

(Source: CNBC) 

For reference, Tesla had delivered 386,810 vehicles in Q1 of 2024. So, unless you believe in time-traveling sedans, it’s hard to spin this as anything other than a faceplant. Production was also down, hitting 362,615 vehicles vs. 433,371 a year ago. That’s a 16% dip. Not exactly the numbers you want to see from the company that still insists it's going to sell “the most cars on Earth.” 

But hey, at least the stock went up 5%, mainly because as mentioned in yesterday's Final Tally article, Elon might be done pretending to run the government. Yes, seriously. Investors briefly found religion again after a Politico report claimed Elon Musk could be stepping back from his role in Trump’s second-term guillotine—DOGE. On the other hand, Musk called the report “fake”, which ironically, is the most believable thing he’s said in a while. 

(Source: Giphy) 

But of course, in the real world, Tesla’s facing a full-on brand crisis. Q1 was a PR hellscape: waves of protests, boycotts, and actual vandalism, all triggered by Elon’s political antics and his “I’m rich so I run the show now” energy. However, aligning yourself with the anti-immigrant AfD party in Germany and slashing federal jobs like it’s a game of SimCity isn’t great for EV sales. Tesla’s market share in Germany dropped from 16% to 4%. Across Europe, it fell from 17.9% to 9.3%. Bigly, bad.

On the flip side, in China, where EV competition is so intense it makes the U.S. auto market look like a lemonade stand, Tesla’s March sales slipped 11.5% year over year. Shoutout to BYD for kneecapping Tesla, while Elon was busy gutting federal departments. Oh, and yes, there’s Canada. Because why not. Tesla claimed it sold 8,653 cars in a single weekend in January to squeeze into a subsidy program before it expired. The Canadian government is now investigating whether those sales were real or just another Muskian tax arbitrage. Spoiler: The subsidy money is now frozen. 

(Source: Driving) 

What’s even more interesting is that Wedbush’s Dan Ives, normally one of the biggest Elon hype men on the Street, didn’t even try to put lipstick on this pig. He called it a “fork in the road moment” and straight-up said the numbers were “a disaster on every metric.” Meaning, Ives knows just as well as we do that this wasn’t a supply chain hiccup or some chip shortage we’ve all heard before. This was a demand problem, a brand problem, and a CEO problem. Tesla still pumped out 345K Model 3 and Y units, but only moved 323K of them. That’s a lot of unsold metal sitting around. And the Cybertruck? 12,881 deliveries. Which is either impressive or pathetic depending on how you feel about a stainless steel car that weirdly resembles the one thing that got teenage boys horned up playing Tomb Raider on Playstation circa 1996. 

(Source: Imbd) 

So with that, what’s next? Well, Musk says the Model Y will be the best selling car on Earth again this year. That is, assuming people still want to buy Teslas after watching Elon turn the brand into a political Rorschach test. And assuming you can still get subsidies in Canada. And assuming BYD doesn’t lap them again in China. And assuming Europe ever forgives him. 

But hey, maybe Q2 will be better. All it’ll take is rebuilding consumer trust, restarting growth in every major market, and convincing Elon to stop playing real-life Diablo for five minutes. Should be easy, right? Regardless, do what you will with this information and place your bets accordingly, friends. As always, stay safe and stay frosty! Until next time… 

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Stocks.News holds positions in Tesla as mentioned in the article.