Tesla shifts sales focus towards fleet customers

Tesla and fleet customers – it’s hardly been a love story. The days of Tesla announcing major fleet orders are long gone. There is now significantly more competition, and rivals often offer stronger service networks. Recently, Tesla mostly made fleet headlines in Germany when companies announced they would no longer be sourcing Teslas – such as SAP, Rossmann, LichtBlick and Deutsche Telekom. The reasons go beyond CEO Elon Musk’s political activities; they also include operational experience with the EVs, their TCO, and Tesla’s cumbersome service approach.

Tesla now responds. A company spokesperson told electrive that Tesla will “introduce numerous innovations for fleet customers in the second half of 2025 to inspire even more corporate clients to choose Tesla and accelerate the shift towards sustainable energy.” That will include several aspects repeatedly requested by business customers.

Going forward, Tesla plans to support corporate fleets of 25 or more vehicles with a dedicated team of account managers and operations specialists. The regionally-based account or key account managers will assist, for example, with obtaining quotes from leasing providers and will be “highly familiar with specific delivery and after-sales processes”, while the operations team “will be available to major clients for all operational matters”. That means Tesla will have dedicated contacts for fleet managers – a first! At least for customers with sufficiently large fleets. Smaller business fleets will continue to be handled via the regular sales structure in Tesla stores.

Special terms under framework agreements

Things are also evolving in terms of special leasing terms for large buyers. Tesla says it will “offer extremely attractive leasing rates in various formats in cooperation with selected leasing providers.” Unlike Tesla’s pure finance lease options from its online configurator, fleet customers will now be able to access packages including maintenance/service or insurance – options that were not previously available directly via Tesla and its partners. It will make it easier for business clients to obtain tailored offers meeting their needs.

Tesla will also, for the first time, proactively offer “special terms.” These require a framework agreement with Tesla – but without a fixed minimum purchase. “Another major benefit: the special terms are no longer tied to deliveries within a single quarter,” the spokesperson explained. “In particular, under the framework agreement, vehicles can be ordered at special rates and delivered in 2026 if required.”

While the framework agreement involves no obligations, Tesla has a clear expectation. “We naturally expect drivers within the company to be made aware of the agreement with Tesla and for our vehicles to be included in the car policy,” said the spokesperson. The agreement includes “a wide range of offers for companies and their eligible employees”, such as EV experience days and test events on-site, dedicated electromobility sessions with Tesla product experts, and complimentary access to the ‘Tesla for Business’ portal, where vehicles, charging, and workshop data can be tracked.

Tesla’s European sales have fallen sharply this year compared to 2024. In Germany, Tesla recorded 8,890 new registrations in the first half of the year – a steep 58.2 per cent decline. Of these, 6,305 were Model Ys, which has now dropped to ninth place in the German model rankings. Reasons cited for the slump include Elon Musk’s political activities and the Model Y facelift (here is our Model Y Juniper driving report) – production was retooled in Q1 and has been ramping up since.

Tesla now appears to see the fleet market as a lever to boost sales in the second half of the year.

Source: Info via e-mail