Tesla Trade-Ins Are At An All-Time High, Edmunds Says

As Tesla CEO Elon Musk implores his employees not to sell their stock even though “it feels like Armageddon,” Tesla owners are trading in their vehicles at record levels.

That’s according to data tracked by the U.S. car shopping website Edmunds, which found that March 2025 represents the “highest ever share” on record of Tesla trade-ins toward new or used purchases at dealerships.

Teslas accounted for 1.4% of the cars traded in through March 15, up nearly 300% from the same month last year, when just 0.4% of trade-ins were Teslas.

Edmunds’ report also noted a decline in interest from consumers who are interested in similar cars made by different manufacturers. Previously, a car-shopper interested in Ford’s electric vehicles, for instance, might have considered a similar model produced by Tesla ― but that’s also on the decline.

While many Tesla owners remain fiercely loyal to the brand, a loss of external interest would invariably lead to a smaller customer base, the report warned, though it won’t happen overnight.

“Unlike switching smartphone brands or streaming services, replacing a car is a major financial decision, and even the most disillusioned Tesla owners will likely hold onto their vehicles out of necessity,” Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ head of insights, told HuffPost in an email.

Shares in Tesla have almost halved from their Dec., 2024 highs as Musk has taken up residence atop the Trump administration and embarked on a chaotic and likely unconstitutional rampage through the federal government.

The self-inflicted wound has shocked analysts. At JPMorgan, bankers traced a “simultaneous decline in both Tesla pricing and unit volume” all the way back to Musk’s 2022 acquisition of Twitter.

“We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly,” they wrote.

In more unwelcome news for the company, Tesla is recalling almost all of its Cybertrucks, for the eighth time, to fix an exterior piece of stainless steel trim that can come unglued from the vehicle.

Musk attempted to slow the bleeding at a surprise all-hands meeting Thursday night, where he asked Tesla employees to “hang onto their stocks” even though “it feels like Armageddon.”

The message hasn’t landed with Tesla brass, however: Top officers at the company have unloaded more than $100 million in stock since early February.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has attempted to goose the stock ― with counterproductive results.

In what would appear to be a massive conflict of interest, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick went on Fox News and told people to buy stock in Tesla.

“Buy Tesla,” Lutnick told viewers of “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Wednesday night. “It’s unbelievable that this guy’s stock is this cheap. It’ll never be this cheap again.”

Shares fell on the news.