Tesla said its delivery of vehicles in the first three months of 2025 fell nearly 13% as demand for the automaker's electric cars continued to weaken, with deliveries falling well short of analysts' expectations.The company said on Wednesday that it shipped 336,681 vehicles in the first quarter, down from the 386,810 in the year ago period. The latest deliveries fell short of expectations that the EV maker had likely shipped about 350,000 vehicles during the period, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in an April 2 research note.The decline comes amid protests held at Tesla dealerships both in the U.S. and Europe over CEO Elon Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Under Musk's leadership, DOGE has pushed the Trump administration to shutter federal agencies, slashing tens of thousands of jobs, as he seeks to cut government spending."[T]his delivery number was a disaster for the bulls with continuous negativity around the TSLA brand," Ives said in his note. "We are not going to look at these numbers with rose-colored glasses ... they were a disaster on every metric."Ives, who said earlier said he had expected Tesla to report it had delivered as many as 360,000 vehicles during the first quarter, added that he believes Musk "needs to stop this political firestorm and balance being CEO of Tesla with DOGE."Shares of Tesla slumped $12.77, or 4.8%, to $255.69 in early trading. The stock has plunged about 44% since hitting a high of $479 per share in December, when the stock soared on expectations that Musk's advisory role with the Trump administration would help the business through lower regulations and other benefits.Tesla's problems extend beyond the backlash over Musk's work with DOGE, however. The company's aging lineup is failing to attract buyers, although the automaker is expected to roll out a new lower-cost model later this year.In the meantime, some EV buyers are choosing to buy vehicles from rival automakers, with competitors from BMW to Toyota now offering a range of electric, hybrid or plug-in hybrid options. To some extent, Tesla's woes predate Musk's involvement with the Trump administration, with the company's revenue slipping 1% last year, partly due to sluggish sales in the first six months of 2024.Still, the slump in 2025's first-quarter deliveries points to the backlash that some consumers are voicing over Musk's role in the Trump administration, Ives noted, adding that the more political the billionaire becomes, "the more the brand suffers.""Musk needs to get his act together or else unfortunately darker times are ahead for Tesla," Ives said in his April 2 research note. ...read more read less