Tesla Hits Best-Ever Sales Quarter, Toyota Pours $3B & Waymo & Zoox Grow Testing

Automaker Tesla has been having one of its worst sales runs over the past few months, going back more than a year—its biggest roadblock in the electric vehicles (EV) sector comes from Chinese competitors, especially BYD.

Despite the poor overall run, Tesla witnessed its best sales quarter ever.

As per a press release published by Tesla, the company managed to produce more than 447,000 vehicles (447,450 to be exact) and delivered over 497,000 vehicles (497,099) in the third quarter.

Out of this, Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y constituted the majority in terms of production (435,826) and delivery (481,166), with other models seeing a production of 11,624 vehicles and 15,933 in deliveries.

The company also mentioned that it deployed 12.5 GWh of energy storage products—numbers that represent a record amount for both deliveries and deployments.

“Thank you to all our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve these results,” reads the release.

Tesla is expected to post its financial results and its net income and cash flow results for Q3-2025 on October 22, 2025, post market closure. It will include a brief advisory and a live question and answer webcast aimed at discussing the Company’s financial and business results and outlook.


The jump in Tesla’s sales figures represents a 29% growth from the second quarter, and it’s believed that the surge is mainly credited to the discontinuation of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit announced earlier by the United States government.

Other automakers in the country also witnessed an increase in vehicle sales.

Tesla has also been riding well in the robotaxi arena—where, once again, it’s being outshone by rivals, particularly Waymo.

Recently, Waymo said its fleet grew to 2,000 vehicles, introduced robotaxi plans for businesses, and expanded its services to numerous cities. These were just some developments the company enjoyed over the past few weeks.

Before this, the company also revisited the most populated city in the country—New York—to test its robotaxis, a plan that came after announcements outlining expansion to 10 new cities.

“We want to serve New Yorkers in the future, and we’re working towards that goal,” read the post.

Now, Waymo received an extension on its testing permit in the city, which will run through the end of 2025. Waymo’s initial permit was granted in August and was valid until the end of September.

As per the terms of the permit, which are the same as the one before, Waymo will be allowed to operate up to 8 of its Jaguar I-Pace vehicles across Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, but the vehicles will require a human seated in the vehicle, acting as a safety operator. However, these humans will be exempt from the city’s rule that requires a human to keep one hand on the wheel at all times.

As far as expansion goes, Amazon-backed Zoox recently revealed a rollout on the roads of Las Vegas, Nevada—a much-awaited launch.

Now, the company announced it was expanding to Washington, D.C., marking its eighth testing site and first one in the Mid-Atlantic.

The region provides Zoox with a testing ground offering a complex and unique street layout and seasonal weather challenges, while also ranking among the largest ride-hailing markets in the U.S.

“As part of our continued growth, this expansion is a strategic step toward bringing safe, sustainable, and autonomous transportation to the nation’s capital and the Mid-Atlantic, paving the way for future deployments in the region,” reads the release. “With the addition of Washington D.C., the Zoox testing fleet is now operating in eight cities, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Las Vegas, Seattle, Austin, Miami, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.”


Meanwhile, automotive company Toyota is looking outside the automotive industry for its next big innovation in mobility, climate, AI, and industrial automation. 

The company is pouring in $1.5 billion in new capital that will invest in the life cycle of startups—from seed to growth and maturity.

This will come through about $670 million in capital allocated to a new subsidiary called Toyota Invention Partners Co. and $800 million in its growth-stage venture arm Woven Capital.

The Toyota Invention Partners subsidiary will focus on Japan-based startups, keeping long-term strategies in mind.

“One way to think about them (Toyota Invention Partners) is they’re bookending what Toyota Ventures and Woven Capital are doing,” said Woven Capital general partner George Kellerman. “They’re doing the really early stage on one end, but then they’re maybe doing these longer-term project finance, asset management type of infrastructure investments, that might be a 30-, 40-, 50-year type of investment.”

The startups grown by the two subsidiaries could even play a key role in Toyota’s Woven City, which is a 175-acre prototype city that aims to incubate startups and that opened this year.

“The thing that really excites me is that Toyota is clearly leaning in; they’re committing over $3 billion across Toyota Invention Partners, Woven Capital’s fund one and two, and all of Toyota Ventures funds,” concluded Kellerman.

Do you think Toyota’s new startup funding strategy could help it innovate a path to the front of the EV, robotaxi, and transportation sector?

Do you think Tesla’s impressive third quarter sales will help it regain ground in the EV space and robotaxi race, or have Waymo and Zoox already left it far behind?

Let us know in the comments below!