Tesla seems to be slowly overcoming the crisis due to Elon Musk’s political activism. In the last quarter, the company improved sales and profits thanks to more deliveries.
April 23, 2026, 5:07 amApril 23, 2026, 5:07 am
Revenues rose by 16 percent year-on-year to $22.39 billion, as the electric car pioneer led by tech billionaire Elon Musk announced. Profit rose 17 percent to $477 million. The share reacted in after-hours trading with an increase of over three percent.
Image: keystone
Global Tesla deliveries climbed 6.3 percent year-on-year to 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter. In the same quarter last year, deliveries fell by 13 percent.
After the decline in sales last year, Musk declared that Tesla’s future lay in autonomous robotaxis and humanoid robots. At the same time, Tesla brought slightly cheaper versions of the Model 3 and Model Y onto the market.
A retooling of the production lines for an update of the bestseller Model Y contributed to last year’s declines.
Another important factor was the controversy surrounding the political activities of company boss Elon Musk, who was for a time a close confidant of US President Donald Trump and on whose behalf he was supposed to cut government spending. Some potential suitors were put off by Musk’s right-wing political views.
Trump also ensured that the tax break of $7,500 for buying an electric car in the USA was abolished at the end of September 2025. This brought Tesla record sales with the closing panic in the third quarter – with a subsequent further decline. (sda/dpa)