Elon Musk's Sales Slump: 50,000 Tesla Cars Sitting Unsold

Elon Musk’s Sales Slump: 50,000 Tesla Cars Sitting Unsold

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, is in a dire situation. Around 50,000 Tesla-produced vehicles are “sitting idle” due to lack of market demand.

In its performance statement, Tesla indicated that their factories produced more than 50,000 additional units of vehicles compared to those sold throughout January to March 2026.

According to Business Insider, this discrepancy is the largest in Tesla’s history. Typically, Tesla’s vehicle production and sales volumes do not differ greatly. The previous largest gap between production and sales occurred in early 2024, amounting to 46,500 units.

Tesla and other automotive industry players are facing declining sales due to the withdrawal of electric vehicle subsidies in the United States. US President Donald Trump ended the tax credit for new electric vehicle purchases worth US$7,500 per unit in September.

Electric vehicle sales in the US plummeted 28 percent in January to March 2026. Tesla’s competitors, such as Ford, Stellantis, and Honda, have decided to delay investments and the launch of new electric vehicle models due to shrinking demand.

The plunge in electric vehicle sales is prompting Tesla to focus on their new business, namely robotaxi services with a fleet of autonomous vehicles produced by them. Tesla plans to begin production of the Cybercab robotaxi this year.

Additionally, Tesla is starting production of humanoid robots named Optimus in 2026.

Musk boasts that the robotaxi service business will boost productivity at Tesla’s manufacturing facilities. However, to date, Tesla still lags far behind Alphabet’s Waymo, the parent company of Google. Waymo is now operating a robotaxi fleet in Austin and San Francisco.