Tesla sold significantly more cars in the second quarter as a rebound in Europe more than made up for declines in the United States.
The company said Thursday that it delivered 480,000 cars worldwide from April through June, up 25 percent from the second quarter of 2025.
Sales exceeded expectations by a wide margin. Wall Street analysts had expected Tesla to deliver 406,000 vehicles, according to estimates compiled by the company.
Tesla sales in the European Union rose 77 percent in the first five months of 2026 to 89,000 cars, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. That helped offset a decline in the United States, where lawmakers eliminated tax breaks last year, effectively raising the cost of electric models by up to $7,500.
Tesla did not provide a breakdown of sales by region. But the company is expanding production at its factory outside Berlin, an indication of strong demand in Europe.
Beginning this month, the factory will be able to produce 6,200 Model Y sport utility vehicles a week, up from 5,000 at the start of the year, Andre Thierig, senior director of manufacturing at the plant, said on LinkedIn last week. This fall, the plant will be able to produce 7,500 vehicles a week, he said. Tesla is also expanding a battery factory at the site.
Tesla sales last year suffered from Europeans’ antipathy toward Elon Musk, the chief executive, caused by his support for right-wing politicians and his role as President Trump’s cost-cutting czar. But Tesla won back buyers with low-interest loans and monthly leases of less than 300 euros, or $340.
Tesla also benefited from a broad surge in electric vehicle sales in Europe, where they account for more than 20 percent of new car purchases.
In the United States, electric vehicles account for only about 6 percent of the new car market. Tesla’s U.S. sales fell 20 percent in the second quarter, according to estimates by Cox Automotive, a research firm.
Weak electric car sales in the United States have also weighed on other automakers. General Motors said on Wednesday that its U.S. sales in the second quarter fell 4 percent from a year earlier, partly because it sold fewer battery-powered models. Sales of the electric Chevrolet Equinox fell 62 percent in the quarter.
Tesla also said it sold storage batteries with a capacity of 13.5 gigawatt-hours in the second quarter, up from 9.6 gigawatt-hours a year earlier. Batteries bought by homeowners, businesses and electric utilities to store energy, or to smooth out fluctuations in electricity demand or supply, have become an important business for Tesla.
Both Tesla’s car and battery businesses have likely benefited from the war in Iran, which sharply drove up the costs of oil, liquefied natural gas and other commodities. Because electric cars use no fuel and batteries often store energy generated by solar or wind farms, they are much more attractive to consumers and businesses when fossil fuels become more expensive or are in short supply.
At Tesla, cars remain the largest source of revenue, but investors are more focused on the company’s self-driving technology, which Wall Street believes will become a bigger and more lucrative business over time. Investors value Tesla at $1.3 trillion, far more than any other automaker, based on expectations that the company will dominate the market for autonomous taxis.
So far, self-driving taxis do not generate significant revenue, and Tesla has fewer of them on the road than other companies. Tesla is operating 69 autonomous ride-hailing vehicles in Texas, according to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. That compares with 628 operated by Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company, and 317 by Avride, a company based in Austin, Texas, that offers driverless rides in Dallas in a partnership with Uber.
