Tesla’s cheaper vehicles aren’t helping its declining sales

Tesla spent more than a year touting that “more affordable” cars were on the way, and they finally arrived last October, with stripped-down versions of the Model Y and Model 3 starting at $39,990 and $36,990, respectively. But the new vehicles are not moving the needle much for Tesla’s overall sales, first-quarter figures show.

Tesla said Thursday that it delivered 358,023 EVs globally in the first three months of the year, below analysts’ expectations of of around 368,000. The company also produced far more than it sold, with the final tally built coming in at 408,386.

This means Tesla only delivered about 6% more cars in the first quarter of this year than it did in Q1 2025, which was the company’s worst quarter in years. The first quarter 2025 figures were also affected by the company shutting down production lines for a few weeks to switch some equipment, meaning Q1 2026 figures likely aren’t much of a real improvement.

The sales figures are striking for a company that once promised to grow EV sales 50% every year. And the poor first quarter means Tesla now risks seeing its overall sales decline for a third year in a row — at a time when its profits are also tanking.

Tesla is not the only company struggling to grow EV sales, especially in the United States. Legacy automakers have backed away from — and in some cases, outright canceled — once-grand plans and ambitions for new EVs. Newcomers have struggled, too. Rivian announced Thursday morning that it shipped just over 10,000 vehicles in the first quarter, more or less the same figure it seems to report every quarter.

Rivian does have a new model waiting in the wings, as it is about to start shipping its cheaper R2 SUV, which should boost sales. The company is banking on the R2 being hugely successful out of the gate, despite the fact that the cheapest version of it won’t arrive until late 2027.

Tesla doesn’t have a new, mass-market vehicle ready to go. The company had been working on a much lower-cost EV that was expected to be priced around $25,000. But CEO Elon Musk killed the project in favor of going all-in on the “CyberCab.” In place of that $25,000 car, Musk instead had Tesla develop the stripped-down Model Y and Model 3.

The only truly new model Tesla has released over the last few years is the Cybertruck. While that outsells most other all-electric trucks, it’s been a complete flop in the face of Tesla’s — and Musk’s — expectations for the steel-clad EV. In the first quarter of this year, Tesla only sold 16,130 “other models,” which includes the Cybertruck and the now-retired Model S and Model X.