Tesla’s Profit Per Vehicle Has Been Dropping Significantly
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I just saw the headline “Tesla’s profit per vehicle drops 40%, within Toyota’s striking range.” Now, I’m not sure why this came out as news at the moment, as it’s been a while since Tesla’s 2025 financials came out, but I didn’t remember the company’s profit per vehicle declining so much, so it intrigued me and I had to look into it.
This is what I’m finding regarding Tesla’s net profit per vehicle:
- 2025 — $2,140
- 2024 — $3,570
- 2023 — $8,279
- 2022 — $9,500
- 2021 — $5,896
- 2020 — $1,443
- 2019 — ($2,345)
- 2018 — ($3,979)
Yikes. That’s not a great trend. Yes, it looks great from 2018 (or earlier) to 2022. That put Tesla on top of the world, and the stock market. However, it’s still valued like it’s on top of the world despite sales shrinking for years now and despite its net profit per vehicle dropping consistently over the past few years. Going from $9,500 net profit per vehicle in 2022 to $2,140 net profit per vehicle in 2025 while unable to avoid a sales decline looks quite concerning.
Now, as well, Tesla has eliminated its high-price, high-margin models — the Model S and Model X — and doesn’t seem able to move its Cybertruck (previously relying on SpaceX to buy a bunch).
The company did have strong sales in the second quarter, but that was largely due to a huge spike in demand in Europe. That spike in demand was partly created by the US war on Iran and the extended Strait of Hormuz closure, but it was also partly created by Tesla offering really low-cost versions of its Model Y and Model 3 there. How much profit is Tesla making on these really low-cost models? That is a big question.
And now you also have Tesla ramping up production of its Cybercab, which is supposed to be for a fleet of self-driving robotaxis, but is the technology really ready? It’s going to be interesting to see the finances around the Cybercab, continually increasing expenditures on FSD, and net profit per vehicle in coming quarters.
Many Tesla fans have been upset at us for pointing out declines at the company in recent years, especially after we hyped up the company so much for a decade. But look at the net profit per vehicle trends in that bullet list above. Were we wrong? We covered the dramatic, amazing rise of Tesla. And then before almost everyone (and while meme fans and Wall Street went all in on Tesla), we started noticing issues with consumer demand and extra efforts by Tesla to move product, so we started reporting on that. The trends above from 2022–2025 show we were spot on.
The question now is what happens in 2026, 2027, and beyond. Tesla feels like it’s at an inflection point again. Either it could see a rise again, or much of what Tesla’s been pouring money into could turn out to be a dud and things could truly turn in the wrong direction for the company financially. We will see.
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