During Tesla’s 2025 Q1 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk used his time to distract investors and the general public from the fact that sales and profits were in the tank by making outlandish promises about automation, cheaper models, and robots while also claiming he was taking a step back from his work in the Trump administration.
The company blamed a massive drop in first-quarter profits and revenue on the current political climate and President Trump’s tariff fiasco. It also pointed the finger at the production changeover for the updated Model Y. Regardless of the reason, the dreadful numbers Tesla posted shouldn’t be taken lightly. The Austin, Texas-based automaker said profits fell 71% in the first quarter to just $409 million. That’s nearly $1 billion less than it made at the same time last year. Its total automotive revenue was also down about 20%, missing its expected target by nearly $2 billion. Q1 was truly disastrous for Tesla. You can check out more of Tesla’s miserable first quarter numbers right here, on its investor relations landing page.
Honestly, this all could have gone a lot worse if it wasn’t for the fact Tesla earned $400 million in interest on cash and investments, and a further $595 million from selling clean air credits to other automakers that fail to meet emissions targets. In a true (read: funny) bit of irony, these are the exact credits President Trump has promised to eliminate.
Musk also refused to lay out any concrete plans for how the rest of 2025 would go. Instead, he said the company would “revisit” its 2025 guidance in three months time, after the close of Q2.
Promises made
In an effort to quell fears that Musk was taking his eye off the ball, he promised that “starting probably next month” his time running the Department of Government Efficiency will “drop significantly” down to one or two days a week depending on how much Trump wants him around. Time will tell if that actually happens.
Musk also did his usual cheap cars, autonomy, and robot song and dance to distract Tesla fans from what they were looking at. He reiterated his claims that Tesla will soon begin offering robotaxi rides in Austin, which almost certainly is not going to happen. He claims it’ll start with “maybe 10 to 20 vehicles,” and told investors that Tesla remains “committed to expanding our business model to include delivering autonomous robots across multiple form factors and use cases — powered by our real-world AI expertise.” Of course, the first “robotaxis” launched in Texas will have humans behind the wheel in case anything going wrong. Tesla’s humanoid robot is supposedly coming soon, too, assuming they can make it work without a human teleoperating it.
The CEO also waved the idea of a cheaper Tesla in front of investors like a set of shiny keys in an effort to distract them from the carnage around them. “Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025,” Musk insisted. I’ll believe it when I see it.
