Tesla earnings fall 71% in first quarter

Tesla’s net income was down 71% in the first quarter of 2025 from a year earlier.

Quarterly earnings dropped to US$409 million compared to the first quarter of 2024, the company says.

The result comes amid widespread backlash against Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and his work with US President Donald Trump’s administration, especially the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with Musk indicating he may leave his role as a special government employee in late May.

June may be a turning point for Musk and Tesla with the first fleet of robotaxis expected to be launched that month in Texas and the first shipment of more than 3000 new Model Y “Juniper” EVs from Shanghai due to arrive in Australia and New Zealand on board the Great Pioneering.

Meanwhile, Tesla reports a 9% decline in revenue to US$9.3 billion for the first three months of this year compared with a year earlier.

Sales also fell 13% in the first three months of the year compared with the same time in 2024.

Automotive revenue was down 20%, partly offset by gains in Tesla’s energy business, says the Washington Post.

It also reports US$595m came from other automotive manufacturers who pay Tesla for carbon credits to offset their sale of conventional vehicles.

Tesla says it produced more than 362,000 vehicles, delivered at least 336,000 vehicles (mostly Model 3 and Model Y EVs) and deployed 10.4GWh of energy storage products during the first quarter of this year.

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