In a dramatic pivot that signals rising panic at the top of the electric vehicle empire, Elon Musk has announced an abrupt shift of his personal focus away from Washington’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and back to Tesla, the company he once hailed as his life’s mission. The announcement comes on the heels of a devastating financial disclosure: Tesla has reported a staggering 71% collapse in quarterly profits, from $1.39 billion in the first quarter of 2024 to just $409 million in Q1 2025.

A drop so steep, it not only stunned Wall Street but also forced Musk to publicly acknowledge that Tesla is “in trouble.”

For months, Musk had been increasingly preoccupied with his government project DOGE, an aggressive and deeply controversial initiative to slash federal contracts and gut bureaucratic spending. While Musk claimed victory in his mission, many now wonder if it came at too high a cost to his original empire.

On a tense earnings call Tuesday, Musk admitted: “Now that the major work of establishing DOGE is done, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla starting in May.” He emphasized that he expects to spend “just a day or two per week on government matters” moving forward. The implicit message was clear: Tesla needs saving, and Musk is back at the helm.

Tesla’s Q1 earnings showed a drop in revenue from $21.3 billion to $19.3 billion, and shares had plunged over 40% year-to-date. Even though they saw a brief rebound of 5% in after-hours trading, analysts like Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives quickly pointed out that “Investors wanted to see him recommit to Tesla.

This is a big step in the right direction.” But behind the cautious optimism is a storm of structural issues, fierce market competition, and regulatory headwinds that threaten to derail Musk’s plan to rebound.

Tesla is battling serious headwinds both at home and abroad. In the U.S., the company’s high-profile Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) features are under federal investigation following multiple accidents and safety concerns. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently probing whether the systems provide adequate alerts to drivers when attention lapses. Critics, including automotive analyst Sam Abuelsamid, remain skeptical.

“The system is not robust enough to operate unsupervised,” Abuelsamid noted. “It will suddenly make mistakes that will lead to a crash.” Despite this, Musk remains confident, asserting that millions of Teslas will operate autonomously by the end of 2025, and adding provocatively, “Can you go to sleep in our cars and wake up at your destination? I’m confident that will be available in many cities in the U.S. by the end of this year.”

But as Musk promises robotaxis without steering wheels or pedals, regulatory bodies remain unconvinced and consumer trust continues to erode. Meanwhile, the financial pain is mounting. Tesla’s gross margins shrank from 17.4% to 16.3%, a reflection of thinning profit from each dollar of revenue. The company is also absorbing blows from the broader geopolitical landscape.

Tariffs from the Trump administration are raising costs, while retaliation from China — where Tesla produces its Model Y and Model 3 — is taking a more direct toll. Tesla was recently forced to suspend orders from mainland China for its premium Model S and Model X vehicles, a move that underscores its weakening foothold in one of its most lucrative international markets.

Adding insult to injury, Tesla’s dominance in the electric vehicle sector is being chipped away by a wave of nimble competitors. Chinese manufacturer BYD is gaining serious ground with the debut of a lightning-fast charging battery, while European automakers are releasing advanced EV models that now rival Tesla in both performance and brand appeal.

Tesla’s public image has also taken a beating in Europe, where Musk’s outspoken support for far-right political figures has alienated swathes of customers. What was once seen as a visionary tech brand has now, in many quarters, become a political lightning rod.

Despite all this, Tesla is still managing to keep certain financial lifelines intact. The company’s sale of regulatory credits — essentially emissions offsets sold to less environmentally compliant automakers — brought in $595 million this quarter, up from $442 million a year ago. While critics argue that this is a crutch rather than a core business strength, it provided a key buffer to help soften the blow of plummeting vehicle sales.

Tesla also posted $2.2 billion in cash flow, a bright spot that Morningstar’s Seth Goldstein says helped mitigate investor panic. “They’re not particularly surprising given that deliveries were down,” he noted, referring to the overall bleak numbers. “It was good to see positive cash flow.”

Nonetheless, the internal crisis is undeniable. Tesla’s ambitious promises about a cheaper Model Y rollout and the full-scale launch of its robotaxi service in Austin by June now look overly optimistic, especially considering the current trajectory of consumer sentiment and legal scrutiny.

The announcement that Tesla will attempt to push forward with its driverless fleet while still under federal investigation is being viewed by many as reckless at best — dangerous at worst.

The reality for Musk is this: DOGE may have made headlines and stirred political controversy, but it hasn’t saved Tesla from the harsh laws of economics. A 71% drop in profits is not just a bad quarter — it’s a warning siren.

The company’s overreliance on Musk’s name, vision, and increasingly polarizing political persona has become both its superpower and its Achilles heel. With the electric vehicle market becoming saturated and global competitors closing in, the future of Tesla may hinge not on grand pronouncements from its CEO, but on whether the company can return to delivering cutting-edge innovation at a price point that mainstream buyers can stomach — all while convincing regulators that its autonomous tech won’t put lives at risk.

Whether Elon Musk’s renewed focus will be enough to pull Tesla back from the brink remains to be seen. For now, the billionaire’s empire is wobbling — and the race to reclaim its former glory has officially begun.