The company will make the final versions of both electric vehicles next quarter, he said, adding that his company will offer support for existing Model S and Model X owners 'for as long as people have the vehicles.' 'It's time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end with an honorable discharge, because we're really moving into a future that is based on autonomy,' he said. 'So if you're interested in buying a Model S and X, now would be the time to order it.' But sales of both models have flatlined in recent years, despite interior and exterior refreshes along the way. Tesla has faced increased competition in the luxury EV space from legacy automakers, as well as upstarts like Rivian and Lucid Motors. Sean O'Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane....

Tesla's profit fell 46% in 2025 compared to the prior year, as CEO Elon Musk assumed a role in the Trump administration and federal electric vehicle subsidies were killed off by Congress, causing sales to plummet. The electric vehicle company reported Wednesday that it recorded just $3.8 billion in profit across 2025, its lowest tally in years. Total revenue from car sales fell 11% year-over-year, too. Tesla already revealed that it shipped 1.63 million cars globally across 2025. That marks the second year in a row that its sales have declined, after Musk spent years promising average annual growth of 50%. Investors largely expected the decline in sales in Tesla's fourth quarter and full-year results for 2025, and the company beat Wall Street's estimates for earnings and revenue, sending shares up in after-market trading Wednesday. It's been largely buoyed by strength in its other industries and investments, including energy capabilities and AI, as Tesla has continued to lure investors' attention away from its stalled-out automotive business....

A quick bit of breaking news that hit just as we were about to send this newsletter out. The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into Waymo after its robotaxis have been spotted illegally passing stopped school buses numerous times in at least two states. Read the full story here. Tesla made a couple of moves this week ' and just before its quarterly earnings drops ' designed to show its progress, and even dominance, in automated driving technology. But, hold up, there is more to it than mere optics. The week started with Tesla offering passengers robotaxi rides in Austin without a human safety driver in the front seat. If you recall, Tesla launched a limited service in Austin last year with a fleet of modified Tesla Model Y vehicles running a more advanced version of the company's driving software known as Full Self-Driving Supervised (this one being 'unsupervised'). Human safety operators have been riding in the front passenger seat as a precaution since the rollout....

Two decades ago, a California company called Tesla Motors almost single-handedly created the electric vehicle as we now know it. Elon Musk's company has dominated the industry across the globe ever since. But last year, for the first time in a long time, the world's biggest seller of EVs wasn't Tesla. It was the Chinese auto giant BYD. The secret to BYD's success is simple: The company makes high-tech electric and hybrid cars and sells them at incredible prices. The tiny BYD Seagull costs as little as $8,000 in China, and it's a megahit in several countries. The Chinese car industry'not just BYD but also its many competitors that also make affordable cars'is quickly taking over the world. In Europe, Chinese models make up nearly 10 percent of new-car sales, in large part because they're typically thousands of dollars cheaper than options from homegrown Volkswagen and Renault. And in Mexico, about 20 percent of new cars are made in China. But you won't find the Seagull or any other cheap Chinese models in the United States. The Biden administration levied steep 100 percent tariffs on Chinese EVs and then essentially banned them for reasons of national security. (U.S. officials have said that the cars could transmit sensitive data back to Beijing.) For its part, the Trump administration has continued to keep out Chinese imports and push American-made gas cars instead....