While Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) maintained electric vehicle (EV) market share dominance in the first half (H1) of 2026 with roughly 52.3%, its Cybertruck has been severely underperforming.
Specifically, out of the total 242,100 vehicles sold in the first six months of the year, only 7,263 were Cybertrucks. Notably, this represents a severe underperformance relative to initial marketing and Elon Musk’s own estimate of at least 250,000 units shipped annually:
I’d say a quarter million a year is a reasonable guess and it might be 500,000.
Indeed, assuming Cybertruck deliveries increase moderately relative to the H1 figures published by Cox Automotive to reach 15,000 for the entire year, the total will still be 94% lower than the 2023 projections.
An even less generous read on the difference between Musk’s pre-launch assessments and reality would consider him actually placing the number between a quarter and half a million cars.
Thus, relative to the high 500,000 estimate, Tesla is selling only 3% of the Cybertrucks it expected to.
Tesla keeps EV market dominance despite Cybertruck underperformance
Simultaneously, the Cybertruck underperformance is not reflective of the EV maker’s overall position. Not only has the company been responsible for 52.3% of all electric vehicle sales in H1, but a single model – Tesla Model Y – accounted for as much as 35.3% in H1 2026.
The second-most sold EV also came from Elon Musk’s firm: Tesla Model 3 had a 14.4% segment share. Meanwhile, the best-selling non-Tesla car was the Hyundai Ioniq5 at just 4.5%.
Still, while strong relative to its peers, the American EV company has been on an undeniable downtrend. Though its H1 sales came in at an impressive 242,100, they were, nonetheless, 10.9% lower than in the same period of 2025, when the number stood at 271,635.
Is Elon Musk’s Tesla losing its edge?
Furthermore, the future is not guaranteed to be much brighter. Much like hopes were running high for the Cybertruck, the Cybercab – Tesla’s robotaxi – and the associated FSD technology have been enjoying much hype.
Unfortunately, the actual proliferation of the vehicle has been somewhat lacking with Lucid (NASDAQ: LCID) – especially in the wake of its Uber (NYSE: UBER) and Bolt – and Waymo offering stiff competition.
Though some might point to the upcoming Roadster and the marketing hints that the automobile would be a flying car as a sign Tesla is about to regain its leadership. XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) already has such a vehicle.
2026 Tesla stock price performance
Lastly, the woes Tesla has been suffering from in recent years have also been reflected in the 2026 stock market. TSLA shares started the year on a downtrend, and the subsequent rally – despite taking the equity some 30% higher between April and May – ended with a dramatic crash in July.
Overall, Tesla stock is trading at $376.14 on the morning of Tuesday, September 22, and is 14.14% in the red year-to-date (YTD).
