I don’t have a driver, is that a problem? Tesla robotaxis become fully autonomous in Austin
Tesla is currently testing fully driverless robotaxis in Austin, Texas, according to CEO Elon Musk.
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- Tesla’s Cybertruck sales fell by nearly half in 2025 compared to the previous year.
- Overall U.S. electric vehicle sales are also expected to decline slightly in 2025.
- Analysts also point to CEO Elon Musk’s political stance as a factor in Tesla’s sales performance.
Sales of Tesla’s Cybertruck will fall by nearly half in 2025, according to new data released by Cox Automotive.
The Silicon Valley electric vehicle maker sold 20,237 units of its unconventional electric pickup truck in 2025, a 48.1% decrease compared to the 38,965 it sold in 2024.
The decline is due to a decline in overall electric vehicle sales in 2025 after President Donald Trump and Congress repealed the $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers that the Cybertruck and other models qualify for. According to new data released by Cox Automotive on January 13, automakers sold 1,275,714 electric vehicles in 2025, enough to account for nearly 8% of total U.S. vehicle sales that year. However, industry-wide EV sales also fell 2% from the 1,301,441 electric vehicles automakers sold in 2024.
Cox said overall 2025 EV sales were inflated by a rush among car buyers to buy electric models in the third quarter of 2025, before the popular $7,500 tax credit expired. Automakers sold 365,830 EVs in the third quarter, compared to just 234,171 in the fourth quarter. Tesla did not immediately respond to USA TODAY Cars’ request for comment on the decline in Cybertruck sales.
Why did Tesla’s car sales decline in 2025?
Tesla sold 589,160 cars in the U.S. in 2025, down 7% from 2024 domestic sales of 633,762 cars.
The company said in an investor presentation from the third quarter of 2025 that the challenges it faces in 2025 are due to “near-term uncertainties due to changes in trade, tariffs and fiscal policy.”
Industry analysts also cited the impact that Telsa’s bombastic CEO Elon Musk’s collaboration with President Donald Trump and staunchly conservative political stances have had on the company’s car sales performance.
A November 2025 Yale University study found that Tesla sold between 1 million and 1.26 million fewer vehicles between October 2022 and April 2025 than it would have without what the study authors called the “Musk partisan effect.” The study found that Mr. Musk’s highly public political stance also helped other automakers increase sales of electric and hybrid vehicles as drivers who opposed the CEO’s politics fled to other EV makers.
In a statement provided to USA TODAY Cars, Stephanie Valdez Streety, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said Tesla has bigger problems than just Musk’s politics.
“Tesla faced a second straight tough year in 2025 because its product line is aging and it hasn’t been able to bring a ton of products to market to replace it,” she said.
“The Cybertruck has been a low-volume, high-priced vehicle from the beginning, so its decline does not materially change Tesla’s broader trajectory,” Valdez Streeti added.
“While Elon Musk’s high profile is often a distraction, the bigger challenge is that Tesla’s vehicle lineup is aging at a time when the EV market is much more competitive,” she said.
What will happen to Tesla’s other models in 2025?
Tesla’s best-selling car in 2025 was the Model Y, which sold 357,528 units in 2025, which was 4% less than the 372,613 Model Y units the company sold in 2024.
Here’s how the rest of Tesla’s lineup fared in 2025 compared to its 2024 performance.
- Model 3 | 192,440 people in 2025. 189,903 people in 2024
- Model S | 5,889 people in 2025. 12,426 people in 2024
- Model X | 13,066 people in 2025. 19,855 people in 2024
