Is Tesla’s Pivot to Robotics Coming at the Cost of Its Car Business?

Tesla is rolling out plans to build robots and semi trucks to the delight of its investors, but auto industry analysts are wondering if the company is at risk of neglecting its core car business.

This year alone, Tesla has moved to end production of its Model S luxury electric sedan and Model X luxury electric SUV, and the company is sitting on thousands of unsold EVs.

The changes come as Tesla’s sales have been sluggish compared to prior years and analysts have questioned whether its EV lineup has become too stagnant. Tesla reported production of 408,386 cars globally in the first three months of 2026, according to a report released by the company on April 2. But the company said it was only able to sell 358,023 vehicles in the first quarter.

“Tesla faced a tough year in 2025, a second tough year in a row, because its product line is aging, and the company hasn’t been able to bring a high‑volume product to market to offset that,” Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said in a statement, noting that Tesla has done little at the start of 2026 to alter its car fortunes.

The result, Valdez Streaty said, is “Tesla has an aging line of vehicles at a time when the EV market has become far more competitive.”

Why Is Tesla Pivoting to Autonomy and Robotics?

Tesla is facing pressure from its investors to prove it can meet its stated autonomy and robotics goals.

Company CEO Elon Musk told investors in Tesla’s earnings call in January the company is in the process of making an “overall shift to an autonomous future.”

“The only vehicles that we’ll make will be autonomous vehicles, with the exception of the next generation Roadster,” Musk told investors Jan. 28.

Musk predicted on Tesla’s April earnings call its Optimus robot will soon be his company’s most important product.

“As you’ve heard me say a few times, I think Optimus will be our biggest product, not just Tesla’s biggest product, but probably the biggest product ever,” Musk said on the call. “And I remain convinced of that conclusion.”

Tesla also announced its first autonomous semi truck has rolled out of its production facility.

What Do Tesla’s Investors Say?

Tesla investors have made clear they are betting on the company being successful in its transition to autonomy and robotics.

Bank of America said in a note to investors on March 4 it’s recommending investors consider buying the Silicon Valley automaker’s stock because it is “leading the Auto 2.0 landscape and next era of mobility.”

“We expect TSLA to quickly become a leader in robotaxi services, given its ability to scale more profitably than competitors,” Bank of America analyst Alexander Perry said in the note.

Jake Behan, head of capital markets for Direxion, a financial service firm, said in an email that Tesla’s performance in its nascent endeavors is as important to investors as its initially cutting-edge electric cars were a decade ago.

“Tesla isn’t the catch-all proxy for Elon Musk it once was,” Behan wrote. “As attention increasingly shifts to his broader set of ventures in AI and autonomy, the stock has to stand more on its own merits, and that raises the bar for execution.”

How Many Unsold EVs Does Tesla Have?

Tesla produced 50,363 more electric cars than it was able to sell in the first three months of 2026, at a time when overall demand for EVs was going down.

EV sales fell in 2025, as President Donald Trump and Congress eliminated a popular $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers that was offered to shoppers for the better part of a decade.

EV sales accounted for 9.6% of U.S. auto sales in 2025, which was down from 10.2% in 2024, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

Another problem for Tesla’s new cars is the glut of used Teslas that are on the market now as previously-owned EVs are piquing consumer interest.

“Looking at the cross-shopping data, it looks like 41% of new Tesla shoppers considered a used Tesla,” Sean Tucker, managing editor at Kelley Blue Book, said. “2026 Tesla’s biggest competitor by a long distance is 2023 Tesla.”

But despite all the headwinds, Tesla is still the nation’s biggest EV seller. The company’s number of unsold EVs from the first three months of 2026 was higher than the total number of vehicles sold by other purely EV makers such as Rivian and Lucid in 2025.

Valdez Streaty, the Cox analyst, said Tesla’s scale gives it advantages on pricing that other EV makers can’t use.

“Selling roughly 600,000 vehicles a year in the U.S. gave Tesla the volume to vertically integrate – building its own batteries, motors, software and electronics – which removes supplier margins from the most expensive parts of the vehicle,” she said. “Competitors are fighting higher manufacturing costs and a retail cost structure that Tesla simply doesn’t have.”