Tesla has Now Produced More than 10 million Cars

• Tesla produced its 10 millionth car this week in California.

• This milestone comes only six years after the automaker made its one millionth vehicle.

• The automaker’s growth has slowed down considerably over the last two years.

Eighteen years after it made its first vehicle and six years after it made its one millionth, Tesla has now manufactured more than 10 million cars.

This milestone was achieved earlier this week, when a black Model Y crossover rolled down the Fremont, California assembly plant.

While the automaker also operates factories in Texas, Germany, and China, the Fremont facility is its original production location, which could explain why it was chosen to manufacture the brand’s 10 millionth model.

In fact, the same factory was also selected to manufacture the automaker’s one millionth car back in 2020.

The fact that it took Tesla only six years to go from having made 1 million vehicles to 10 million is a testament to the worldwide appeal of the automaker’s fully electric lineup.

By comparison, General Motors, which has sold electric vehicles since 2016 and now features one of the most complete EV lineup of any automaker, is only estimated to have manufactured about 500,000 electric vehicles.

Of course, if we look at all GM vehicles, the American giant manufactured its 10 millionth model all the way back in 1929.

Nevertheless, Tesla’s achievement remains very impressive, since no other EV-only car company is even remotely close to having similar production figures.

It has to be said, however, that Tesla’s growth has slowed down significantly over the last two years, the company being unable to beat the peak of 1.81 million vehicles it delivered in 2023.

While things are still far from being concerning, it does put a cloud over the company’s future expansion, especially in the face of ever stronger competition and blow back from the CEO’s political implication.

Speaking of the CEO, Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion pay package that was voted by shareholders last year hinges on Tesla having produced 20 million vehicles.

While this milestone seemed quite close just a year or two ago give the rate at which sales kept increasing, the recent stagnation has pushed it back further.

Something else that could make reaching the 20 million milestone more difficult is a perceived lack of innovation over the last few years.

While the Model 3 and Model Y sedan and SUV recently received a significant update, they are still fundamentally the same vehicles that they were at launch in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

In addition, the flagship Model S and Model X were discontinued without direct successors back in May, having remained largely unchanged for 13 and 10 years, respectively.

The Cybertruck has also failed to deliver on the expected sales figures despite a very enthusiastic fanbase.

At the moment, the only future products that have been hinted at are the low-volume second generation Roadster, whose production keeps getting pushed back, as well as a possible Chevrolet Bolt competitor, which hasn’t been confirmed.

Given Tesla’s still strong popularity and significant financial means, it should still be entirely possible to recover and return to the level of sales enjoyed in 2023, but the company will have to take some sort of action for that to happen.

Things are looking up, since Tesla saw its sales increase 25% year-over-year during the second quarter of 2026 in the United States, in large part due to high fuel prices, which is driving buyers back to electric vehicles.

Source: InsideEVs