Looks like Elon Musk’s Washington office duties might cost him a huge Tesla business loss in European markets. The situation is so bad that the sales stats are quite saddening. Tesla suffered the worst sales drop so far in Germany as well as in the UK over the last two years.
The situation is so bad that the April Tesla sales only account for a total of 885 vehicle sales in Germany. That is a sharp 46% nosedive from last year’s numbers. You’d be even surprised to know that the UK sales are even meeker, with only 512 new Tesla sales accounting for a 62% drop.
The overall EV sales on the continent are rising, but Tesla is not getting any benefit from the increase in EV adoption. Can it be a political backlash, or are the rival automakers doing better than Tesla? What is all happening here? Let’s find out!
Tesla Sales Falling Hard In Europe
Looks like Tesla’s popularity is having a rough time all over Europe, when other EV automakers are doing better. And it is not just in the UK or Germany where things are looking bad for Tesla; Sweden and France are following suit.
Tesla sales saw the lowest new registration numbers in the last two years in Europe. There seems to be a trend across the continent to ignore Tesla, even when EV sales are rising.
Last month’s Tesla sales accounted for only 512 units in Britain, while in Germany, the number was 885 units sold. This is a huge fall from the sales made by Tesla in the same month last year. In 2024, Tesla’s market share in the UK was 12.5%, which has now come down to a mere 9.3%.
Survey Shows 59% of UK Buyers Would Choose Chinese EVs Over Tesla
Here’s the new Tesla registration stats for April:
- Germany: 46%
- U.K.: 62%
- Sweden: 80%
- France: 59%
Tesla Juniper Is Not Going To Save The Day
Irony is that this is coming after Tesla played its “Trump” card with the facelift Model Y launch in Europe, to increase the overall sales. The New York Times even said that the fall is not just because of the delay in new models launch and deliveries.
Tesla took its own sweet time to launch the updated Model Y in Europe, and the delay might have cost Tesla some share in the sales numbers. But the sharp fall in sales is too big to blame only on the delayed Tesla models.
Experts suggest the real reason behind shunning the leading Tesla electric vehicles is Elon himself. Matthias Schmidt, auto analyst from Schmidt Automotive Research, said that the sales drop problem is more tied to Elon than the EVs. He even called the updated Model Y delay “a model changeover blip.”
Competition Rising
While people in Europe are more against Tesla because of its political views and recent trade issues. The competition, too, is getting better with Chinese EV automakers penetrating deeper in the European markets with indeed better EVs.
The popularity for BYD saw a 755% sales jump in Germany, even with a 27% import tax. The situation in the UK without tariffs is also rosy, with a 311% increase in BYD sales.
BYD is not alone, other automakers from China, ike MG, XPeng, and Nio, are all swiftly making their way into the European markets. MG is already doing great in Europe, and other EV automakers too are opening luxury showrooms and establishing in Norway and the Netherlands.
Home teams like Volkswagen are seeing double the sales as last year, even after a slower electric shift. It is not surprising that people are opting for fresher EVs with more variety and appealing pricing. Leaving Cybertruck, Tesla hasn’t really done more to bring a new shiny toy to its line-up.
Is Elon Musk A Liability For Tesla?
Elon Musk might be winning it all in the US, but the UK business is not at all in his favor. The problem is not just because of his infamous, controversial X posts, but more because of his personality alone. Earlier, the Europeans were limited to mocking him with creative fun and satires. Now the whole continent is content to openly say No to anything that is related to him.
One Reddit user pointed out that the problem is with Elon Musk alone, as he is the face of the company.
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Bottomline
Europeans are openly shunning the Tesla EVs by saying they do not want to associate with far-right supporting Musk. Musk’s unpopularity may bring down entire Tesla market share in Europe than a flaw in Tesla vehicles ever could. Tesla soon might be in ruins if the company doesn’t do something quicker to minimise the Musk damage in Europe.
