QOTD: Why Did Tesla Take A Sales Dive?

by Tim Healey

Published: January 28th, 2026

Tesla took a sales hit in 2025. Was it just because of the expiration of the EV tax credit?

Did it have anything to do with head honcho Elon Musk and his controversies? Did it have anything to do with the not-always-hip Cybertruck?

Or was there something else afoot? Perhaps a general consumer shift away from EVs?

I do notice that most of the Tesla models are kind of long in the tooth.

So, what's the reason?

You know what to do. Sound off below.

[Image: Tesla]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 81 comments

FTypeR on Jan 30, 2026

Elmo is a nazi POS. That used to be a bad thing in this country before the christian reich wing nationalists took over.

Hail the orange pedo!!

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- Lloyd Bonified on Jan 30, 2026
  
  Dang ..and when my kids were little I bought them one of those tickle me Elmo's and later one that sang about Big Bird. Who Knew Sesame Street was promoting a Nazi. Thank goodness Trump cut PBS funding.
  
  Like
Spookiness on Jan 31, 2026

Just a reminder that the Model S is/was older than the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera was when it discontinued production.

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The Oracle Many are largely parked due to their collectibility.
The Oracle Musk knows what he’s doing. He is pioneering so many technologies in terms of product and manufacturing that he will achieve incredible economy of scale.
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6.2deadlifters Because of the current administration no cheap car can exist. US worker SalariesUS sourced materials with costs from US salaries aquiring materials.US UnionsUS corporationsTARIFFS against trade partnersAll these things prevent a 'good' 'reliable' 20,000$ 4-door 4-passanger car capable of 4-start offset and side impact crash protection.Game-Set-Match, end of line. No possible outcome. No discussion possible. every american loses.