Tesla delivered 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter of 2025, a 14 percent drop from the previous quarter, despite a modest 6 percent year-over-year increase. Production fell to 408,306 units, down 6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2025. The company reported $94.8 billion in revenue for 2025, with 73 percent — $69.5 billion — coming from car sales, but automotive revenue declined by 10 percent year over year. Energy storage deployments dropped to 8.8 GWh, below the 10.4 GWh deployed in Q1 2025 and short of Wall Street's 14.4 GWh expectation. Tesla discontinued the Model S and Model X earlier in 2025, signaling a strategic pivot toward robotaxis and humanoid robots. A top Tesla executive stated the company should be seen as "transportation as a service" rather than an automaker. Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that Tesla no longer needs to focus on mass-market vehicles because future cars will be autonomous. However, global EV demand has softened, and the loss of the $7,500 U.S. federal tax credit has affected sales. In Europe, Tesla lost nearly half its market share due to competition from Chinese brands and Musk's political controversies. Other revenue streams like energy and services are growing but not enough to offset automotive declines. Tesla's valuation has been overshadowed by SpaceX, which recently merged with xAI to reach a $1.25 trillion valuation.
When a top Tesla executive says the company is now "transportation as a service," that means it's betting its future on unproven robotics and AI while its core business crumbles. Tesla delivered fewer cars, built fewer still, and deployed less energy storage — in every measurable area, it's underperforming. Musk's focus on SpaceX and xAI suggests Tesla's glory days may be behind it, not ahead. For Nigerian tech startups chasing hardware dreams, this is a lesson: scaling vehicles is hard, and pivoting to sci-fi won't hide falling numbers.
