New York (AFP) – Tesla reported a jump in second-quarter auto sales Thursday, as Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company easily topped expectations in a period of lofty gasoline prices due to the US-Iran war. Tesla’s global deliveries came in at 480,126, up 25 percent from the year-ago period when Musk’s work in President Donald Trump’s administration sparked consumer boycotts and protest.
Auto sales in the period overwhelmingly consisted of the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y sport utility vehicle, with fewer than three percent going to other vehicles, including Tesla’s futuristic Cybertruck. Deutsche Bank had projected sales of 416,000, with growth led by Europe and China, offsetting a projected decline in North America. Earlier sales data had shown a sharp rebound in Tesla’s European sales in 2026. Through the end of May, there were 89,180 new Tesla car registrations in the EU, up 77.3 percent from the year-ago period.
Since leaving the White House in May 2025, Musk has emphasized Tesla’s investments in robotics, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence, while also pursuing other ventures, such as the stock listing of rocket company and satellite operator SpaceX. This has diminished Tesla’s focus on refreshing its vehicle portfolio, prompting criticism from some leading Wall Street analysts who consider the company overvalued. During its April conference call, Tesla said it was on track to spend more than $25 billion in 2026 on envelope-pushing new technologies.
Tesla’s auto sales come on the heels of reports Wednesday that showed mixed results for EVs. Leading General Motors EV models experienced sales declines, but Honda reported an increase in EV sales, as well as strong demand for hybrid models. Also Thursday, Ford reported a 10 percent drop in US auto sales to 549,200, reflecting vehicle phaseouts, lower EV sales and the hit to sales from an outage at a key aluminum supplier in New York state that experienced two fires.
Sales of Ford’s top-selling F-150 pickup truck were 197,900, a drop of 11 percent. Ford’s F-150 sales in the first half of 2026 “reflect a retiming of commercial production following last year’s aluminum supply shortages,” the company said. “Ford expects supply to recover more fully in the second half of the year.” Even with the hit due to the fire, Ford said the F-150 remains on track to retain its crown as the top-selling vehicle, topping sales of the Chevrolet Silverado by more than 80,000 units so far in 2026.
Shares of Tesla fell 7.1 percent around midday. Shares had risen 12 percent in the three prior sessions. Shares of Ford dropped 2.0 percent.
© 2024 AFP
