Tesla Had A Monstrous Sales Quarter Right As The $7,500 EV Tax Credit Died

Good morning! It's Friday, October 3, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition, Tesla's deliveries surged to nearly 500,00 vehicles in the third quarter as buyers looked to get a deal before the $7,500 EV tax credit expired, Jaguar-Land Rover's production restart date is murky at best, Stellantis posted its first positive sales report in years and Nissan is recalling about 20,000 Leaf EVs because of battery fire issues.

It might be fleeting, as EV sales are sure to drop like a rock now that the $7,500 EV tax credit is dead at the hands of President Donald Trump, but Tesla still reported record global deliveries in the third quarter. In the three months that ended on September 30, the Austin, Texas-based automaker moved 497,099 vehicles — a 7.4% increase from the same time last year.

Of course, the vast majority of those deliveries were from its two high-volume vehicles: the Model Y and Model 3. Those two cars alone accounted for 481,166. That means the Model S, Model X and flagship Cybertruck combined for only 15,933 deliveries. Ow. In any case, it's a rare bit of good news for Tesla in 2025, which has been contending with increased competition and a CEO in Elon Musk who refuses not to be a dangerous alt-right loon. From Automotive News:

Tesla's second-quarter global sales fell 13 percent from a year earlier to 384,122 vehicles, following a 13 percent drop in the first quarter to 336,681, the company said. Cox Automotive estimated Tesla's second-quarter U.S. deliveries at 130,168, a 21 percent drop compared with the same period last year.

Analysts expect Tesla to deliver around 1.61 million vehicles this year, down roughly 10 percent from the previous year, Reuters reported. Tesla will need to deliver 389,498 vehicles in the fourth quarter to meet that projection.

In the U.S. specifically, Cox Automotive estimates that Tesla's deliveries in Q3 rose to 157,058 vehicles — a 9.4% improvement over the second quarter. A number like that makes sense as buyers hit dealer lots in force, trying to take advantage of the $7,500 EV tax credit before it was too late.

I'm sure Elon has zero regrets about hitching his wagon to Trump's horse. Well, in actuality, he probably doesn't. They're fairly aligned on everything other than EVs, if we're being honest.

Things are still looking pretty murky for Jaguar-Land Rover. The British-Indian automaker may be preparing to build its first car in over a month following a massive cyberattack that stymied operations, but an exact production restart remains unclear at best. A spokesperson for the automaker told Autocar that it would resume "in the coming days," and added that restart assessments were being carried out daily.

JLR originally earmarked September 24 as a potential restart day. Then, it was pushed to October 1. I don't know if you've noticed, but today is October 3, so that idea has come and gone. Right now, factory lines are still at a standstill, and it remains unclear which factories will restart first or what target volumes will be initially.

For JLR's sake, I hope they get things up and running soon. It wasn't like the company was doing terribly well to begin with, and now it's estimated that this mess is costing it around $6.7 million per day. From Autocar:

The restart comes after the UK government said it will guarantee a £1.5 billion loan to JLR, to help it support suppliers who have been hit by the production shutdown.

The loan to the Tata-owned car maker will be issued by a commercial bank, but will be underwritten by the UK government.

As well as costing JLR an estimated £50 million a week, the cyber attack has badly hit the firm's suppliers.

It's estimated that around 150,000 people are employed by some 700 British firms that supply JLR, and the UK government has been investigating ways to support them, such as a furlough scheme or loans.

It will instead underwrite a single loan to JLR through the Export Development Guarantee (EDG), with JLR repaying the money over a period of five years.

Business secretary Peter Kyle said on Saturday (27 September) that the loan guarantee "will help support the supply chain and protect skilled jobs in the West Midlands, Merseyside and throughout the UK".

Last week, JLR was able to restore some of its IT systems following the back and was able to start paying some of its suppliers.

On 25 September, it confirmed that "sections of our digital estate are now up and running", including its payment systems – and that it is "now working to clear the backlog of payments to our suppliers as quickly as we can".

While JLR is hurting, so are its employees. The majority of them have been off work with lost hours being banked — meaning they will have to be worked later. Union Unite said last week that employees within the supply chain are being told to apply for Universal Credit as they are moved onto reduced or zero-hour contracts by employers battling to stay in business. It's an absolute mess.

Oh my God! I've got good news about Stellantis sales. No, this isn't a prank. I'm totally serious. The troubled automaker's U.S. sales just rose 6% in the third quarter of 2025 when compared with the same time period a year ago, finding 324,825 vehicles new homes. To keep momentum going, it said it would take on the cost of the expired EV tax credit through the end of the year while supplies last, though a bonus cash incentive.

As the industry's foremost Stellantis apologist, I could cry. In the second quarter, sales fell 10% year-over-year, and that's between than the 12% they fell in Q1. Of course, it's not like 2024 was some banner year, either. Overall sales in '24 were down 15% from 2023. All of this is to say... things have been rough for this transatlantis company. From the Detroit Free Press:

According to the numbers, Jeep and Chrysler posted double-digit gains in sales compared with the third quarter of 2025, while Ram posted a slight loss overall, with strong retail sales nonetheless, as the newly retooled HEMI pickups hit the shop floor with orders exceeding production. Dodge, too, underwent a decrease, though the popular Durango — which comes standard with a HEMI — soared to a 44% increase over the model's performance in 2024's third quarter.

Here's how the brands performed in sales compared with 2024's third quarter, according to company data:

• Jeep increased by 11%.
• Ram decreased by 5%.
• Chrysler increased by 45%.
• Dodge decreased by 2%.
• Fiat increased by 2% (which represents a difference from 316 vehicles in 2024's third quarter, compared with 321 in 2025's second quarter).
• Alfa Romeo decreased by 21%.
• Stellantis did not report data on its luxury offering, Maserati.

While a 6% gain can be looked at as somewhat modest for most automakers, it's a huge deal in the world of Stellantis. I'm not joking when I tell you that this is the company's first positive sales quarter in nearly two years. Sometimes it's just nice to win one, man.

Nissan is recalling 19,077 2021 and 2022 Leaf EVs equipped with a Level 3 CHAdeMO quick charger because of a battery defect that could pose a fire risk. Apparently, the car's lithium-ion battery can develop excessive lithium deposits, which increase electrical resistance and the potential for overheating, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Not ideal. From The EV Report:

The primary safety concern arises when the vehicle is connected to a Level 3 quick charger. The increased internal resistance in the battery can cause it to heat up rapidly. If charging continues, this overheating can escalate, potentially leading to a battery fire. The manufacturer states that there is no preceding warning to alert the driver to the dangerous condition before it occurs.

Nissan is developing a software remedy that will prevent the battery from reaching a state where a thermal incident could occur. Once available, dealers will install the update free of charge for all affected vehicle owners.

Nissan will begin notifying owners via mail on October 24, and it will instruct customers not to use the Level 3 charger until a final remedy is complete. A second notification will be sent once the software is ready for deployment. 

History.com

On this day in 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, and even though I wasn't born yet (I don't mean to brag), this is one of those events in American history that fascinates me to no end. If you want to learn more, head over to History.com.

I saw Lorde perform at Madison Square Garden a couple of nights ago. Damn... what a show.