Tesla sales fall as Elon Musk focuses on self-driving cars

Tesla's global car sales fell sharply in the second quarter, continuing a decline that began last year, as the company puts a greater emphasis on autonomous driving instead of new models aimed at attracting car buyers.

- JACK EWING

The company said it delivered 384,000 vehicles from April through June, down from 444,000 a year earlier. Tesla's limited and aging lineup has not been able to withstand growing competition from relatively young Chinese carmakers like BYD and established Western companies like General Motors, Volkswagen and BMW.

Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, has been seemingly indifferent to slumping vehicle sales, saying the company's future lies with technology that will allow Teslas to operate autonomously and function as driverless taxis. Significant numbers of investors have bought into that vision and pushed up Tesla's stock market valuation to more than $940 billion.

Wall Street had expected a decline in sales and Tesla shares rose in early trading Wednesday.

Last month, Tesla began a closely watched test of specially equipped Model Y sport utility vehicles, which it calls Robotaxis, that offered paid rides to handpicked guests in Austin, Texas.

The guest riders, mostly Tesla enthusiasts with many social media followers, posted almost uniformly glowing reviews online. However, videos they shot betrayed some flaws in the technology, including instances when the cars braked suddenly, dropped off passengers in the middle of intersections, or required intervention from safety monitors who rode in the front passenger seats.