Editor's Note at 9:34:51 pm ET, February 12, 2025: The document titled "FY25-Procurement-Forceast" linked in second paragraph line 2 has been presumably updated by the Department of State to omit all mention of Tesla. It now simply reads "Armored Electric Vehicles," with the change made at 2/12/25 21:12. The headline has been updated to reflect the change. The content of the piece remains as was with minor changes in paragraph one to adjust tone."
At a time when analysts and investors alike are questioning Elon Musk's political role for contributing towards Tesla's slowing sales momentum, particularly in the EU, with Oppenheimer going so far as to opine that Musk's "public life risks alienating consumers and employees as the Trump administration tests the limits of its power," Tesla might yet emerge from this maelstrom relatively unscathed, at least as far as its top-line metric is concerned.
To wit, Ryan Grim's Drop Site has identified a huge windfall for Tesla contained within the US State Department's procurement forecast for 2025.
Specifically, as is evident from the above snippet (we've boxed the pertinent line item with a red outline), the State Department is planning to acquire "Armored Tesla" worth around $400 million.
We presume that the word "armored" is a nod to the Cybertruck, which is famous for its steel unibody frame. Or, maybe Tesla is planning to produce a whole new dedicated armored vehicle for the US government.
The State Department's procurement list also includes armored BMW X5/X7, an unnamed armored sedan, and an unnamed armored EV.
The procurement award, however, is by no means certain at this point, as noted by Drop Site:
Under the heading, "extent competed," the document reads merely "TBD."
Meanwhile, as mentioned above, Tesla's sales in the EU plunged 47.7 percent year-over-year in January 2025, materializing at just 5,517 units against a sales figure of 10,556 units that Tesla recorded in January 2024. In the US, Tesla's sales momentum continues to be hampered by the pull-forward of demand in Q4'24, presumably due to the possible removal of the EV tax credit in 2025, and the upcoming launch of Model Y Juniper.
Moving away from Tesla's core auto business, Needham analysts now believe that Tesla is operating from a "trailing position" in the autonomous ridesharing and robotics spheres, meriting a 'Neutral' stock rating on the back of the view that the EV giant's longer dated growth levers, particularly in relation to the FSD, robotaxis, and the Optimus humanoid robot, are "more priced in than not."
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
