{"id":2029513,"date":"2026-07-06T14:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2029513"},"modified":"2026-07-06T14:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T11:25:27","slug":"teslas-european-q2-made-up-for-dwindling-u-s-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2029513","title":{"rendered":"Tesla’s European Q2 Made Up For Dwindling U.S. Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Happy Monday! It’s July 6, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

In this morning’s edition, we’re looking at Tesla’s second-quarter sales, as well as the ever-increasing length of auto loans. We’ll also look at Rivian’s 2026 estimates, and new Chinese moves into South Africa.<\/p>\n

The Morning Shift now has its own newsletter! For a roundup of automotive news in your inbox every morning,<\/em> sign up here<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Gas prices skyrocketed during the second quarter of 2026, and sales of EVs and hybrids shortly followed. That rising tide lifted Tesla’s ship in Europe, but the company’s U.S. sales still look flat. From Automotive News<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Tesla reported a 25 percent rise in second-quarter deliveries from a year earlier as higher gasoline prices boosted electric vehicle demand in Europe, while industry estimates pointed to a continued decline in the U.S. market after the end of the federal EV credit.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

Tesla made its biggest gain in Europe with an estimated 40 percent jump in deliveries, Deutsche Bank forecast in a June 30 research note. China was stable with an estimated 3 percent increase, the bank said.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., Tesla deliveries fell 20 percent in the second quarter to 114,629 vehicles, according to a Cox Automotive forecast. For the first half of this year, Cox estimated deliveries fell 15 percent to 231,929.<\/p>\n

An Automotive News forecast put Tesla’s U.S. deliveries down 8 percent in the second quarter to 115,000 and down 12 percent in the first half to 225,000 vehicles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What’s dragging Tesla down stateside?\u00a0Is it the CEO’s heinous politics? His even worse sense of humor and posting acumen?\u00a0The fact that the Cybertruck is the dumbest vehicle on American roads, and every other Tesla is made even dumber by association?\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Cars keep getting more expensive, and wages aren’t keeping up. But Americans don’t exactly have many alternative options to car ownership, so car loans keep getting longer to take up the slack. This is making dealers very nervous. From Automotive News<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Consumers took out longer vehicle loans in the second quarter, with a record 24 percent choosing 84-month terms or longer, fueling dealer concerns about customers bearing negative equity or being sidelined from making a purchase in the future.<\/p>\n

New-vehicle borrowers in the second quarter took out loans averaging 70.4 months, up 0.6 months from a year earlier, according to Edmunds. Used-vehicle borrowers agreed to an average term of 70.1 months, up 0.4 months from a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Experian said that for the first quarter, its most recent data, nearly 36 percent of new-vehicle loans ran longer than 72 months, up about 5 points from a year earlier. Almost 32 percent of used-vehicle loans in the first quarter ran longer than 72 months, up nearly 3 points from a year earlier.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dealers “don’t want”\u00a0to extend loans out to 96 months, according to the Automotive News piece, but they may be forced to at some point. It’s not like anyone’s getting paid more any time soon, unless your name rhymes with “Schmezos”\u00a0or “Schmuckerberg.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Rivian makes some truly spectacular vehicles, but the company can’t seem to get them into customer hands in a sustainable manner. With R2 deliveries starting soon, though, the company hopes it can do better this year. From Reuters<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

July 2 (Reuters) \u2013 Rivian Automotive aised its annual delivery forecast on Thursday, betting on strong demand \u200cfor its R1 models and electric delivery vans as well as its cheaper new R2 SUVs, sending the company’s shares over 10% higher.<\/p>\n

The raised forecast reflects Rivian’s expectation that \u200bits smaller, lower-priced R2 SUVs will help drive sales, despite lingering \u200baffordability concerns following last year’s expiration of federal EV tax credits.<\/p>\n

The R2, \u2060for which customer deliveries began in June, is central to the company’s growth \u200bplans and is expected to compete with Tesla’s best-selling Model Y.<\/p>\n

Rivian now expects \u200b2026 deliveries between 65,000 and 70,000 vehicles, up from its earlier forecast of 62,000 to 67,000. Fifteen analysts polled by Visible Alpha estimate the company will deliver 63,138 vehicles \u200bthis year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’m on Rivian’s team here, I want to see the company do well. Its cars are just too good to be overlooked.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Nissan is looking to shrink, and Chinese automakers are looking to expand. There’s a natural synergy there, and it’s borne out in places like South Africa. Nissan didn’t want its factory in the nation any more, so Chery was more than happy to step in and keep folks employed. From Reuters<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

JOHANNESBURG, July 3 (Reuters) \u2013 China’s Chery formally took over Nissan’s car manufacturing plant in Rosslyn on Friday under a deal that was announced in January, and executives \u200bsaid the company will spend millions of dollars upgrading and adding machinery \u200cahead of starting vehicle production in South Africa in mid-2027.<\/p>\n

Chery said in a statement it wants to establish South Africa as its African hub for manufacturing, exports, research and development, \u200band regional operations.<\/p>\n

Chery, China’s largest car exporter, has committed to retaining all 692 \u200bexisting employees at the plant and Zhang said the project would \u2060create nearly 3,000 direct and indirect jobs across manufacturing, supply chains and related \u200bservices.<\/p>\n

“Our long-term goal is to turn the Rosslyn plant into a complete auto center \u200bwith research and development, supply chain operations, and training, supporting Chery’s expanding presence and the goal of exceeding 100,000 annual vehicle sales in South Africa,” Vice President Charlie Zhang of Chery Auto \u200bsaid during a ceremony at the former Nissan (7201.T), opens new tab facility. It was attended by \u200bexecutives, government officials and industry stakeholders.um<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s nice that Chery is keeping folks around, that’s better than a lot of companies. Good on whoever made that call.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It’s still so funny that he’s from Connecticut.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

After stalling out a bit in anticipation of the Fourth of July, we’re back on the downswing. That’s good!\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

If you haven’t listened to Laura Les’s 2017 remixes album, you’re doing yourself a disservice.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Monday! It’s July 6, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift \u2014 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, we’re looking at Tesla’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,247],"class_list":["post-2029513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-jalopnik-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2029513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2029513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2029513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2029513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2029513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}