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Cars that nobody buys replaced by robots that nobody buys


The best selling car in the world in 2025 was the Tesla Model Y, with a little over 1 million sold. ~350k total vehicles have been sold in 2026 as of April.

https://www.focus2move.com/world-car-market/, https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-first-quarter-2026-...


Actually i think it was the RAV 4 and BYD sold more EVs than Tesla.


Tesla only selling 4 models makes for difficult comparisons with companies like Toyota that sell several cars in overlapping segments.


The limit to EVs makes it fine (if excl. PHEVs). If BYD/Toyota have more models that is fine for the comparison. That is the point.


No, it does not make the comparison unbiased, because other companies, like BYD, may sell in a month as much EV cars as Tesla sells in a quarter, but they are distributed over diverse models, so one Tesla model may indeed sell more than any other model, without this reflecting the EV market share.

E.g. for BYD the 2026 target is over 1.5 million exported EV cars, with more than that produced for the internal Chinese market. During 2025, BYD exported more than 1 million EV cars, besides the production for the Chinese market.


The whole story about Tesla until 2025 was that they had the #1 selling model across any category: BEVs, PHEVs, and ICEs included. So it’s absolutely correct to note when that model’s sales no longer exceed those of a PHEV or ICE model, and it’s always in the context of how competitors choose to segment their offerings.

The core truth is that the popularity of buying a new Tesla has slipped significantly relative to competitors.


Only 4 models and still slipped from #1.


The Fremont plant doesn’t make Ys, only Xs and Ss. And no one is buying the latter two.


The Tesla Fremont Factory produces Model 3 and Model Y. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Fremont_Factory


Yeah but the OP offhand comment is a political soundbite that is technically half true and half prediction but misleading.


why bother figuring if something is true or false if we can simply call it political


> Tesla Model Y

This is the second paragraph of the article:

> Model S and Model X production is over. Roughly 600 vehicles remain in inventory worldwide. The Fremont factory lines that built those cars

That's the 'other models' section on your second link:

https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/tesla-first-quarter-2026-...

My point stands.


Man come one not only is this the wrong analysis because Tesla only has one single model, they literaly build 50k cars which are not sold

50.000

My guess, they made them for pushing the Space X IPO. The same why he did this weird Keynote last week with this megafantasic dyson sphere and whatnot vision.

And I find it very weird tbh that it still even sells. Whenever you see a Tesla, its always the same car.


Unbelievable. Really shows how much of a bubble the internet is - Elon was the internets most hated man in 2025 yet Tesla sold like hotcakes


Who is this "nobody" that bought more than half a million Teslas last year?


Who bought half a million Model S and Model X?


What kind of weird question is that? Do you not count Ford's F-series trucks in their sales numbers? Guess they are not very popular, either.


Second paragraph on the article:

> Model S and Model X production is over. Roughly 600 vehicles remain in inventory worldwide. The Fremont factory lines that built those cars

So yeah, cars that nobody buys.




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