Business
Tesla tops forecasts with 497,000 Q3 deliveries, production slips amid Europe slowdown
Tesla delivered 497,099 vehicles in the third quarter of 2025, surpassing analyst expectations and posting a 7% increase from the same period last year, even as production dipped and sales in Europe weakened.
The Elon Musk-led EV giant produced 447,450 vehicles during the quarter, down from 469,796 in Q3 2024. Still, the delivery figure beat Wall Street’s forecast of about 447,600, according to FactSet. Independent researcher Troy Teslike had estimated 481,000, while Tesla’s internal consensus had put analyst expectations at 443,079.
Shares edged up more than 1% after the announcement, extending a 40% surge in the third quarter that has left Tesla stock up 14% year-to-date, compared with an 18% gain for the Nasdaq.
The company built 435,826 units of its best-selling Model 3 and Model Y cars, but does not disclose regional or model-specific sales figures. Deliveries, though not precisely defined, are considered Tesla’s closest proxy for sales.
The quarter highlighted a split in performance: a slowdown in Europe, where consumer backlash against Musk’s political rhetoric and rising competition from rivals like Volkswagen and BYD weighed on demand; and a last-minute boost in the U.S., where buyers scrambled to claim federal EV tax credits before they expired under President Donald Trump’s July spending bill.
By contrast, Ford announced that its EV sales jumped 30.2% in Q3 to more than 30,600 units, a record high for the automaker but still far behind Tesla’s volumes.
Tesla’s energy storage division also recorded growth, deploying 12.5 GWh of products such as its Megapack and new Megablock systems. That compares with 9.6 GWh in Q2 2025 and 6.9 GWh in Q3 2024. Musk’s AI company, xAI, has been a notable buyer of Tesla’s large-scale batteries.
Full financial results for the third quarter are expected on October 22.
