Tesla’s total vehicle sales surged in the third quarter of 2025 as the electric vehicle maker’s American customers cashed in on an expiring tax credit promotion.
On Oct. 2, the Austin, Texas-based company announced it delivered more than 497,000 vehicles in the 90-day period that ended on Sept. 30. The company said that was a record amount of sales for a quarter. Most deliveries were of the company’s Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers, which together accounted for 481,166 units in the quarter.
The amount of sales was also well ahead of the about 470,000 vehicles the company delivered in the same quarter of the prior year. The sales total was considered to be ahead of Wall Street’s expectations for the third quarter of 2025.
Tesla’s strong performance was in line with industry trends showing exceptionally strong demand for electric vehicles before the program ended. On Sept. 16, Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights for Cox Automotive, wrote that total electric vehicle sales in the United States hit a record in August 2025.
Ford, a competitor in the electric vehicle space, reported a similar boost in electric vehicle sales. In a third-quarter sales report it published on Oct. 1, the Dearborn, Michigan, based automaker said its overall electric vehicle sales were up by 19.8 percent in the 90-day period. In a release it called that performance its “best third quarter ever” for electric vehicle sales.
Even with the strong sales performance, investors sent Tesla’s stock price downward on Thursday. As of about midday Eastern time, the price of Tesla’s stock had fallen by about 3 percent to about $446 a share from its opening price of $470.54 a share.
In its Oct. 2 release, Tesla said it is scheduled to release its full third-quarter earnings report on Oct. 22. When it last reported on July 23, it said it was profitable through the first six months of 2025. However, its total net income—or profit—had fallen to about $1.58 billion from about $2.79 billion in the past year.