Tesla no longer spending much on X advertising

Tesla's ad spending on X this year has dwindled down to a fraction of what it was last year.

According to a recent SEC filing, Tesla spent $10,000 on ads on X in the first two months of 2025, per TechCrunch, which would amount to a total of $60,000 for the full year, if that amount of spending continues. By comparison, Tesla spent $400,000 on X ads in 2024. Elon Musk, who is the co-founder and CEO of Tesla and owner of X, was pressured by shareholders to start advertising for Tesla in 2023, according to the report.

The decrease in ad spending comes at a time when Tesla is struggling with sales and competition from Chinese EVs. Tesla sales plummeted in Europe this past spring, and by June, had been on the decline in the region five months in a row. Around the same time, Tesla fell behind Chinese EV manufacturer BYD in Europe. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration's Big Beautiful Bill is eliminating the need for car manufacturers to purchase carbon credits. Tesla's sale of these credits was a major source of revenue.

This summer, Tesla launched a number of incentives and discounts for American buyers in a seeming effort to sell as much inventory as possible before the Bill Beautiful Bill's tax credit expires at the end of September.

But things are still looking good for Musk personally, as least as far as Tesla's latest filing is concerned. The filing also proposed a pay package for Musk of around $29 billion in shares, as part of a deal with the board that also requires Musk to be more involved in the company.