- The EV leader has seen its per-vehicle profit slip by around 40 percent.
- Despite the fall, Tesla makes more profit per vehicle than its key competitors.
- Toyota’s profit per car has also dropped, although not by as much as Tesla’s.
Elon Musk played a central part in putting Donald Trump in the White House as the 47th President of the United States, and while that arrangement sent his personal fortune soaring, a new analysis shows Tesla is paying a price of its own. The company that made him one of the richest people alive is now watching its earnings erode even as his net worth climbs.
Read: Tesla Sold 6% More Cars Last Quarter And Made 16% More Money
Nikkei Asia recently analyzed the per-vehicle profits of seven of the world’s most important car manufacturers. These included the top five by sales, along with Tesla and BYD, using company financial data and figures from QUICK FactSet. The results show how tariffs in the United States have eroded some of Tesla’s profits.
Still First, But By A Lot Less
Total net profit for the four quarters through January-March 2026 was divided by global sales figures to show that Tesla averaged approximately $2,140 in profit per vehicle, leading the six other car manufacturers who were analyzed. Crucially, this was down significantly from the $3,438 in profit that Tesla earned in the same period in 2025, a fall of around 40 percent. Despite the decline, Tesla retained the top spot for per-vehicle profit for the fifth consecutive year.
The margin has been fatter before, topping the equivalent of $6,170 in the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years, according to Nikkei Asia. The report pins the latest decline partly on the end of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which has dented EV sales across the United States, and partly on intensifying competition from Chinese automakers. Tesla’s income from selling regulatory carbon credits slid too, falling from $2.9 billion in fiscal 2024 to $1.7 billion in fiscal 2025 after U.S. environmental rules were eased.
What About The Competition?
Second place went to Toyota at roughly $2,104 per vehicle, about 20 percent less than the year before. With a far less EV-oriented lineup than Tesla, it has been better shielded from the slump, and its hybrids keep selling briskly. That left Toyota less than $40 behind Tesla, compared with a gap of more than $600 twelve months earlier.
Following Tesla and Toyota was BYD. Despite ranking third, a cut to Chinese tax incentives for new energy vehicle purchases helped drive a 55 percent drop in the automaker’s January-March net profit. Stellantis and Ford trailed behind. Both posted per-vehicle profits of around $925 in fiscal 2024, then slipped into the red in the latest fiscal year.
