Q3 earnings: Wall Street just put Tesla in drive-assist mode

The margin erosion isn’t just arithmetic; it reflects a shifting balance inside Tesla’s business model. The company leaned heavily on pricing incentives to drive volume this quarter, especially as the $7,500 U.S. EV tax credit expired at the end of September. Production totaled roughly 447,450 units, leaving a 50,000-car gap between output and deliveries — the widest since early 2023 and a sign that demand was pulled forward rather than organically growing.Tesla’s finance chief, Vaibhav Taneja, said capex w ...