After a mixed year in 2025, Tesla is currently on a clear upward trajectory: In the second quarter of 2026, the EV manufacturer increased the number of vehicles delivered by 25 percent to 480,126 units. This also allowed Tesla to reduce its inventory levels.Image: Christoph M. SchwarzerTesla’s exceptional performance in the second quarter of 2026 was already evident from registration data across several countries. For example, Tesla recorded 5,111 new registrations in Germany in May – the latest available data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority – marking a 322.4 per cent increase (DE). In Norway, a key market, Tesla topped the brand rankings in the same month with 3,222 new registrations and a 16.5 per cent share. Additionally, Tesla recently announced plans to ramp up production at its Grünheide plant in two phases, increasing weekly output from the current 5,000 units of the Model Y to 7,500 vehicles by October.For the second quarter of 2026, Tesla reported global sales of 480,126 electric vehicles, representing a 25 per cent increase over the 384,122 units delivered between April and June 2025. The company produced 451,768 vehicles during this period, a 10 per cent rise compared to the 410,244 electric vehicles manufactured in the same quarter of the previous year. This also means that, unlike in Q2 2025 – when Tesla produced more vehicles than it sold and increased its inventory – this trend reversed in Q2 2026. The stock of unsold vehicles decreased by 28,358 units.A comparison with the first quarter of 2026 is also noteworthy: in the opening quarter of 2026, the Texas-based company produced 408,386 electric vehicles and delivered 358,023. Thus, Q2 2026 saw a significant increase compared to the previous quarter, with deliveries rising by 34 per cent while production remained nearly flat.Tesla appears to be returning to a growth trajectory after its deliveries declined by 9.1 per cent last year, falling to around 1.6 million vehicles. The controversial political involvement of CEO Elon Musk cannot be overlooked. He positioned himself as a major donor and cost-cutter for US President Donald Trump and even endorsed the AfD in Germany. This not only damaged his own image but also that of Tesla. While the effect is difficult to quantify, it likely had a significant impact on the company’s declining sales figures in 2025.However, Tesla’s data should be interpreted with caution, as its sales figures are highly volatile. On the one hand, the 480,126 units delivered in Q2 2026 represent an exceptionally high figure, not far off the all-time high of 497,099 vehicles in Q3 2025, which was driven by a pull-forward effect ahead of the phase-out of EV incentives in the US. On the other hand, there have been repeated lows in recent years, such as the 336,681 deliveries in Q1 2025.tesla.com