Tesla sales in Q3 show the brand continues its sales dominance in the United States, controlling more than seven times the market share of its nearest competitor.
Kelly Blue Book (KBB) has released its sales statistics for Q3 of this year, and they have found that Tesla continues to dominate the U.S. market, despite the growing electric vehicle market. According to their numbers, Tesla sales were over seven times their nearest competitor, Ford, while even single-model Tesla sales remain higher than numerous brands in the U.S. overall.
In Q3, Americans continued to display interest in electric vehicles, buying just over 200,000 units total (205,682), roughly 63% of which were Tesla vehicles, 131,024 units. Tesla’s closest competitor, Ford, totaled 18,257 electric vehicles sold in Q3, according to KBB. And while this shows the Blue Oval has made significant strides in recent years, they still have a long way to go.
Of their sales, Tesla’s Model Y was the biggest seller, with 60,271 units in Q3, up 20% compared to Q3 2021. The Tesla Model 3 followed closely behind, selling 55,030 units, growing by 67% year-over-year. However, Tesla’s fastest growing sales came from their Model S, selling 9,171 units, an increase of 150% YOY.
Perhaps most shockingly, the Tesla Model X, the brand’s least popular model, only selling 6,552 units, still outsold Rivian, Polestar, Audi, Volvo, Nissan, and Mercedes Benz, to name a few.
Tesla is a juggernaut in the EV market, especially in the United States, but what has allowed them to garner such sales success? While obviously, being first in the EV market with a serious offering gives Tesla a head start, there are a couple of notable trends found within surveys conducted on the subject.
A survey published last year from Escalent found that Tesla buyers chose the vehicle for five main reasons; range capabilities, performance and acceleration, styling, build quality, and the fact that Teslas are “new and different.” Anecdotally, looking at buyers’ comments online, you also find that Tesla’s vast charging network and its now highly coveted brand image are other likely factors influencing customers.
It should be noted that Tesla’s market share is only expected to decrease in the U.S. as more and more models enter the electric car market. The introduction of the Ford F150 Lightning and Ford Mustang Mach-E certainly had that effect, and Chevy’s upcoming offerings (Chevy Equinox EV, Chevy Blazer EV, and Chevy Silverado EV) will likely also pull in new customers who are more comfortable with established brands from General Motors.
As Tesla’s earning call is expected later today, many investors are expected to be focused on Tesla’s future; growing sales, expanding production, expanding offerings, and more. Announcements from the call will likely give a new outlook for Tesla and show the company’s plans now that it has established itself in many world markets.
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Tesla’s Sweden standoff draws UAW support as unions widen pressure campaign
In a post shared on social media, the United Auto Workers stated that it stands with IF Metall workers who are striking against Tesla Sweden.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) has publicly expressed solidarity with Swedish union IF Metall as its strike against Tesla continues, adding international attention to the extended labor dispute in the European country.
UAW supports IF Metall’s strike
In a post shared on social media, the United Auto Workers stated that it stands with IF Metall workers who are striking against Tesla Sweden. UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith stated that the union fully supports IF Metall’s efforts to secure a collective bargaining agreement with the automaker.
“UAW stands with IF Metall workers on strike against Tesla, fighting for a collective bargaining agreement. UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith pledged the UAW’s full support and solidarity,” the UAW International Union stated in its post.
IF Metall launched its strike against Tesla Sweden in late 2023 over the electric car maker’s refusal to sign a collective agreement. The action has since been supported by other unions through sympathy strikes affecting ports, logistics, and service operations.
Tesla Sweden has maintained that it complies with Swedish labor laws and offers competitive pay and benefits, though the company has not publicly commented on the UAW’s latest show of support.
Tesla owners get union attention
Pro-union groups in Sweden have recently expanded their outreach beyond Tesla’s facilities and workforce. Activists have begun distributing informational leaflets against the EV maker directly on Tesla vehicles parked across Stockholm, as per a report from Swedish outlet Dagens Arbete.
The yellow slips, designed to resemble parking notices, urge regular Tesla owners to pressure the company into signing a collective agreement. Organizers involved in the effort have argued that the leaflets are intended to simply inform consumers rather than single out individual owners. When owners are present, however, activists stated that they explain the dispute verbally.
Tesla has not issued a public response regarding the leaflet distribution campaign as of writing.
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Starlink goes mainstream with first-ever SpaceX Super Bowl advertisement
SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.
SpaceX aired its first-ever Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, marking a rare move into mass-market advertising as it seeks to broaden adoption of its Starlink satellite internet service.
Starlink Super Bowl advertisement
SpaceX used the Super Bowl broadcast to promote Starlink, pitching the service as fast, affordable broadband available across much of the world.
The advertisement highlighted Starlink’s global coverage and emphasized simplified customer onboarding, stating that users can sign up for service in minutes through the company’s website or by phone in the United States.
The campaign comes as SpaceX accelerates Starlink’s commercial expansion. The satellite internet service grew its global user base in 2025 to over 9 million subscribers and entered several dozen additional markets, as per company statements.
Starlink growth and momentum
Starlink has seen notable success in numerous regions across the globe. Brazil, in particular, has become one of Starlink’s largest growth regions, recently surpassing one million users, as per Ookla data. The company has also expanded beyond residential broadband into aviation connectivity and its emerging direct-to-cellular service.
Starlink has recently offered aggressive promotions in select regions, including discounted or free hardware, waived installation fees, and reduced monthly pricing. Some regions even include free Starlink Mini for select subscribers. In parallel, SpaceX has introduced AI-driven tools to streamline customer sign-ups and service selection.
The Super Bowl appearance hints at a notable shift for Starlink, which previously relied largely on organic growth and enterprise contracts. The ad suggests SpaceX is positioning Starlink as a mainstream alternative to traditional broadband providers.
Tesla engineers deflected calls from Apple on a daily basis while the tech giant was developing its now-defunct electric vehicle program, which was known as “Project Titan.”
Back in 2022 and 2023, Apple was developing an EV in a top-secret internal fashion, hoping to launch it by 2028 with a fully autonomous driving suite.
However, Apple bailed on the project in early 2024, as Project Titan abandoned the project in an email to over 2,000 employees. The company had backtracked its expectations for the vehicle on several occasions, initially hoping to launch it with no human driving controls and only with an autonomous driving suite.
Apple canceling its EV has drawn a wide array of reactions across tech
It then planned for a 2028 launch with “limited autonomous driving.” But it seemed to be a bit of a concession at that point; Apple was not prepared to take on industry giants like Tesla.
Wedbush’s Dan Ives noted in a communication to investors that, “The writing was on the wall for Apple with a much different EV landscape forming that would have made this an uphill battle. Most of these Project Titan engineers are now all focused on AI at Apple, which is the right move.”
Apple did all it could to develop a competitive EV that would attract car buyers, including attempting to poach top talent from Tesla.
In a new podcast interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it was revealed that Apple had been calling Tesla engineers nonstop during its development of the now-defunct project. Musk said the engineers “just unplugged their phones.”
Musk said in full:
“They were carpet bombing Tesla with recruiting calls. Engineers just unplugged their phones. Their opening offer without any interview would be double the compensation at Tesla.”
Interestingly, Apple had acquired some ex-Tesla employees for its project, like Senior Director of Engineering Dr. Michael Schwekutsch, who eventually left for Archer Aviation.
Tesla took no legal action against Apple for attempting to poach its employees, as it has with other companies. It came after EV rival Rivian in mid-2020, after stating an “alarming pattern” of poaching employees was noticed.
Tesla’s Sweden standoff draws UAW support as unions widen pressure campaign
Starlink goes mainstream with first-ever SpaceX Super Bowl advertisement
