Elon Musk fights: Tesla in the sales stop, BYD overhauled!

Elon Musk fights: Tesla in the sales stop, BYD overhauled!

Österreich - On April 26, 2025, Tesla must deal with falling sales figures and a battered image. The group recorded a drop in sales of 9 % in the last quarter and reported total sales of $ 19.3 billion. The profit fell by alarming $ 71 % to $ 409 million, which disappointed the expectations of investors. The Tesla share has lost over 40 % of its value since the beginning of the year, which increases concerns about the future development of the company. In the first quarter of this year, the deliveries of Tesla fell by 13 % to 336,681 vehicles.

A considerable competitive pressure comes from the Chinese competitor BYD, who has overtaken Tesla this year in auto sales. BYD was able to deliver 416,000 vehicles by March 2025. In Austria, BYD overtaken Tesla with 1,427 new registrations from January to March 2025, which only recorded 1,304 new car sales. At the EU car market, the Tesla registration figures fell by 45 % compared to the previous year, while the overall market for new cars in the EU decreased by 1.9 %. Interestingly, the sales figures for pure electric vehicles increased by 23.9 % and reached a market share of 15.2 %.

Tesla's strategy and challenges in Washington

Elon Musk plans to withdraw from the political matters in Washington and to spend less time in the government apparatus. Shareholders also urge Musk to reduce his public presence to minimize the negative effects on the company. In the recent past there have been aggressive attacks on Tesla, including smearings, color attacks on branches and arson attacks on electricity pylons for the Berlin Tesla factory in Grünheide. This is done in a challenging environment, which is characterized by strict emission regulations, rising fuel prices and increasing pressure on traditional automobile manufacturers.

Musk has also announced that high profits will be expected from 2026 by introducing robot taxis. However, this strategy could be risky because Musk relies on cameras instead of lidar systems. This uses enormous technical challenges, especially in view of the competition of companies such as Waymo, that use lidar technology.

The electric vehicle market: forecasts and trends

The market for electric vehicles experienced a size of $ 500.48 billion in 2023 and will grow to USD 1,891.08 billion by 2032, with an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8 %. The drivers of this growth are state subsidies, strict emission regulations and the increasing demand for sustainable mobility solutions. While the Covid 19 pandemic initially had negative effects on the market, experts expect a boom in electric vehicle sales for the period 2023 to 2025.

Special attention is paid to the progress in battery technology, including solid-state batteries and improved lithium-ion batteries, while higher manufacturing and battery costs are considered growth. The market segments are mainly divided into passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles, with the area of passenger vehicles taking the largest market share.

Companies such as Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company and Renault Group are important players in the industry. BYD plans to increase its production in Thailand to 150,000 electric vehicles. In order to further promote the demand for electric vehicles, government incentives such as reduced sales prices and free charging infrastructure are planned.