Tesla's response to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) directive has led to an update in their Autopilot system, impacting over 2 million vehicles. This development follows a meticulous two-year investigation by the NHTSA into incidents where Tesla vehicles, using the Autopilot feature, collided with stationary emergency vehicles.
The timing of the report is suspicious. It comes just days after the Washington Post published a scathing article against Autopilot. The story was so biased that Tesla took the rare step of responding directly to it.
Background of the NHTSA Investigation
The NHTSA's exhaustive probe centered on whether Tesla's safeguards within the Autopilot system were sufficient in preventing misuse. The inquiry, which scrutinized Tesla’s response to a series of collisions, concluded recently, leading to a recall notice without placing direct blame on the Autopilot system itself. Instead, the focus was on the potential inadequacy of feature controls to prevent driver misuse.
Tesla’s Response and Recall Details
Tesla initiated a voluntary safety recall affecting approximately 2,031,220 vehicles. All of the changes will be handled through an over-the-air update; this is not a physical recall and requires no hardware changes.
This recall includes specific Model S vehicles produced between October 5, 2012, and December 7, 2023, Model X vehicles from September 15, 2015, Model 3 vehicles from July 15, 2017, and Model Y vehicles from January 9, 2020. The recall involves the Autosteer feature of Tesla’s Autopilot system and addresses issues particularly relevant when misused by drivers who fail to maintain continuous and sustained responsibility for vehicle operation.
Addressing the Recall in Software Update 2023.44.30
The software update, version 2023.44.30 is scheduled to roll out shortly and is expected to introduce several key features. This update is also expected to include Tesla’s much anticipated Holiday Update, which will include various new features, such as Alternate Routes While Driving, Automatic Calls to 911, High Fidelity Park Assist, and more. According to NHTSA, these are the Autopilot changes:
Additional Controls and Alerts: Enhanced controls and alerts for Autosteer engagement are introduced to ensure drivers maintain continuous driving responsibility.
Visual Alert Prominence: Visual alerts on the user interface are made more prominent, improving driver awareness and compliance. These new improved alerts can be seen in the photo above, which moves Autopilot alerts to the top of the screen instead of toward the bottom.
Simplified Autosteer Engagement: Known as 'Single-Pull Autosteer', this feature was made available in a previous update, although it’s not available to everyone yet. The goal is to make the engagement and disengagement of Autosteer more intuitive.
Enhanced Checks and Limiting Use: The update includes additional checks during Autosteer engagement, especially when driving outside controlled access highways and approaching traffic controls. It’s unclear whether Tesla will limit the use of Autopilot on certain road types, although the recall document makes it sound like that may be a possibility here. An owner we’ve talked to who has the NHTSA changes, specifically said that Autosteer was not available at times, although it’s not clear whether these are additional limitations or whether Autopilot just didn’t have enough information to activate. FSD appears to be unaffected and the recall document by NTSHA does not refer to Tesla’s FSD specifically.
Suspension for Autopilot: In a move to enforce responsible use, drivers who repeatedly fail to adhere to continuous driving responsibility may face temporary suspension from using the Autosteer feature. In some images we’ve received, it appears that Tesla will apply its suspension system that’s used on FSD Beta to regular Autosteer as well.
This update reflects Tesla's dedication to addressing safety concerns while pushing the boundaries of autonomous driving technology. By collaborating with the NHTSA and proactively enhancing the Autopilot system, Tesla continues to set standards in the automotive industry. As autonomous technology evolves, Tesla's approach is a benchmark for integrating advanced safety features and balancing innovation and driver responsibility.
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Following the recent departure of longtime deputy Omead Afshar, Elon Musk has stepped up to personally oversee Tesla’s sales operations in North America and Europe, according to a new report from Bloomberg, which cites people familiar with the matter.
This is a big shake-up that places Elon directly in charge of fixing Tesla’s sales slump in two key markets. The move has come as Tesla reported nearly on-the-ball deliveries for Q2 2025, hitting 384k deliveries, against a consensus street estimate of 385k deliveries.
New Leadership Structure
According to the report, Afshar’s former responsibilities are being divided between Elon and Senior VP Tom Zhu. Elon will now directly oversee the sales organizations in the US and Europe. As part of this change, Troy Jones, Tesla’s VP of North America Sales, will now report to Elon.
Tom Zhu, who is based in China, will continue to manage sales in Asia while also taking on the critical new responsibility of overseeing global manufacturing operations. Leadership of Tesla’s factories in Fremont, California, and Texas will now report to Tom. Tesla Energy’s factories will still report to Michael Snyder, VP of Energy and Charging.
For now, we’re unsure whether this is a temporary management structure, if the reporting lines will shift, or if Tesla will either hire or promote a new Senior VP of Sales to cover the duties.
Tackling the Sales Slump
The restructuring is a response to the recent downturn in sales. Analysts estimated that Tesla would deliver approximately 385k vehicles, which they essentially managed to achieve. However, deliveries fell short of production numbers, with Tesla delivering just 373k of the 410k vehicles produced.
This situation is particularly challenging in Central Europe. Europe has been noted as Tesla’s weakest market, according to Elon. Interestingly, Elon previously stated in several interviews over the last few months that there was no demand issue, but it now seems that there have been some issues with growing sales.
With Tesla’s new vehicle registrations across Europe having plunged 37% since the start of this year, and the rollout of the new affordable model, as well as more affordable versions of the Model 3 and Model Y seemingly delayed, there is a lot to do. Some analysts are projecting a second consecutive annual decline in Tesla’s global car sales for 2025.
The Rise of Tom Zhu
A key note in this reshuffle is the return of Tom Zhu to a top global operations role. Tom had previously led the construction and ramp-up of Giga Shanghai and was then promoted to Senior VP of Automotive Operations in 2023. Last year, he was sent back to China to focus on tackling regulatory hurdles with the launch of FSD in China.
His return to overseeing global manufacturing, even while staying in China, is a significant vote of confidence in his abilities. It also comes as Chinese authorities have begun drafting new autonomy guidelines to clear a path for the broader rollout of both Supervised and potentially Unsupervised FSD.
Wrap Up
This major restructuring shows that Elon is once again focused on Tesla and plans to personally tackle the company’s biggest issues. This will require a careful hand, as Elon’s forays into politics have caused self-admitted brand damage. If anyone can turn this around and have the Model Y return as the Best-Selling Vehicle of 2026, having just missed out by a few thousand vehicles to the Toyota RAV4, it is Elon.
Alongside him, Tom Zhu will be responsible for streamlining global manufacturing and ensuring that Tesla is ready to launch their new affordable variants in the near future, which should also make a considerable dent in sales.
Tesla has released its Q2 2025 production and delivery numbers, revealing an improvement in production and deliveries over Q1, but still down from a year ago.
Tesla produced 410,244 vehicles in Q2, nearly equal to their production a year ago, which was 410,831 vehicles. Production for this quarter was significantly up compared to Q1 2025, which only saw 362,615 vehicles produced. While production numbers matched those of a year ago, actual deliveries were down.
Q2 2025 saw Tesla deliver 384,122 vehicles, which was down approximately 59,000 units compared to the same period last year, but up by approximately 48,000 vehicles, or about 14% compared to Q1.
Breakdown by Model
The Model 3/Y segment continues to dominate Tesla’s production profile, accounting for 396,835 units produced and 373,728 delivered in Q2 2025. Deliveries for the “Other Models” category—which includes the Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X—were down compared to the previous quarter, with just 10,394 vehicles delivered, a 20% decline. Compared to a year ago, the drop for these vehicles is even more drastic, with sales being down 52%. Tesla refreshed its Model S and Model X last month with new features; however, the update was much smaller than expected and likely didn’t help much in increasing sales for these vehicles.
Tesla doesn’t break down Cybertruck sales separately, but those deliveries are expected to be down as well.
Tesla noted that 2% of total deliveries this quarter were accounted for under operating lease agreements, consistent with the same quarter last year.
Quarter
Production
Deliveries
Model 3/Y Deliveries
Other Models Deliveries
Lease Share
Q2 2025
410,244
384,122
373,728
10,394
2%
Q1 2025
362,615
336,681
323,800
12,881
4%
Q2 2024
410,831
443,956
422,405
21,551
2%
Context and Market Response
While the numbers exceeded some bearish expectations, the year-over-year delivery drop is Tesla’s second straight quarterly decline. Analysts attribute declining sales to increasing EV competition and reputation issues.
Still, investors found relief in the improved quarter when compared to Q1. The stock rebounded about 4% yesterday on the news.
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