Things are undoubtedly bad at Tesla. Its sales are dwindling. Its profits are plunging, as is its share price. There are regular protests outside its showrooms. The Cybertruck is a flop. And somehow, it’s actually a lot worse than that.

The 71% drop in net income it just reported may have been overshadowed by CEO Elon Musk’s announcement that he would be stepping back from his controversial duties at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But that drop is just one indication of serious financial sickness at the EV maker, problems brought on by falling sales for the first time in its history and falling prices for electric vehicles.

The bottom line problem at Tesla is its vanishing bottom line. A deeper look at its first quarter report shows it’s now losing money on what should be its ostensible reason for existence – selling cars.

It was only able to post a $409 million profit in the quarter thanks to the sale of $595 million worth of regulatory credits to other automakers.

But if the Trump administration gets its way, the company can kiss those regulatory credits keeping it in the black goodbye, too.

  • Sundray@lemmus.orgEnglish
    34·
    1 day ago

    I’m always happy to see bad news for Tesla (and by extension, Elon), but they’ve survived so much despite their mismanagement it feels like we’ll never be rid of them.

    • synicalx@lemm.eeEnglish
      13·
      1 day ago

      I’d like to see their charging network survive in some way, maybe under someone else’s control. From what I’ve heard from EV owners the Tesla charging stations are the only ones that are readily available especially outside of cities (at least here in Australia).

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      1 day ago

      Be of good cheer! That kinda market valuation doesn’t disappear overnight, just too much money to piss away quickly. But our man Musk is on the case!

      And you’ll love this, Musk is committing the ultimate capitalist sin: Losing money. No problem going in the red, if your business plans aren’t made of half-ply toilet paper and ghosts. LOL, even Trump will shit on him as soon as it’s clear that Elon is a “loser”.