As Elon Musk wades into European politics, Tesla’s sales across the continent are plummeting.
The sales of the electric vehicle manufacturer in Germany and France landed in January, 59% and 63% according to the data.
Tesla’s sales in the European Union fell 13% in 2024, as the automaker came under growing pressure in its third-largest market from rivals launching a wave of cheaper electric models.
Analysis from pricing consultancy Argus Media suggests the drop was most severe in major markets like Germany, France, and Italy.
In Germany, the European Automobile Industry Center and the Gigafactory Maison de Berlin in Tesla, Tesla Sales fell 41% last year, exceeding the fall in sales at 27% in the EV batteries market.
Tesla’s problems arrived here when sales of electric vehicles fell in Europe in 2024, driven through the end of key subsidies in several markets.
“The great image is a reduced EV market throughout Europe. But Tesla is being reduced faster than that, and in express markets, it is overcoming that decrease,” said Dylan Khoo, an argus analyst, to Bi.
While Tesla’s sales in markets such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden were higher last year, the overall symbol in Europe is of being pink for the automaker, specifically with much of its competition rolling out its own electric cars to the general public.
Swedish logo Volvo, owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely, has noted that its sales sales piled up by nearly 30% in the EU last year, boosted by the popularity of its 36,000-euro ($40,000) EX30 electric multis.
Rivals like Renault and BMW also saw sales in Europe and the United Kingdom last year, with the French company Renault launching less expensive models, adding the R5 of the baguette.
The experts told BI that an expired diversity of products had reached the European activities of Tesla.
The car manufacturer has not introduced a new vehicle in Europe from style and in 2021. Its most recent EV, Cybertruck, should not be had in the United Kingdom or in Europe.
“It’s looking a little bit samey,” said Philip Nothard, Insight and Strategy Director at Cox Automotive.
Nothard added that Tesla faces a more congested EV market in Europe and has come under strain from domestic competition and Chinese insurgents, who have ambitious expansion plans for Europe.
Khoo and Nothard said the style will recently be the key to converting Tesla’s fortune into Europe.
Deliveries of the updated SUV start later this year, and Tesla will be hoping the new Model Y will help the company bounce back after it recorded its first ever annual drop in sales in 2024.
Tesla’s difficulties in Europe come as CEO Elon Musk continues to shake up European politics.
The billionaire caused outrage among many in Germany with his endorsement of AfD, a right-wing political party. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz branded Musk’s support of the “extreme right” as “completely unacceptable.”
Several German companies have announced they will stop buying Tesla vehicles over Musk’s comments in recent months. Last month activists projected an image of a controversial gesture made by the Tesla boss at an event making Donald Trump’s inauguration onto the Berlin factory.
Musk has also become entangled in British politics, looking to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and reportedly a donation to reform the right-wing party.
The controversy surrounding Musk has noticed that one of the Tesla rivals intensified the efforts to court the dissatisfaction.
The Logo CEO, EV Polestar, recently said that he had told sales staff to go to Tesla owners driven by Musk’s impulse in politics and Scholz echoed when calling the AFD billionaire ” totally unacceptable. “
“We get a lot of people writing that they don’t like all this,” Michael Lohscheller told Bloomberg. “It’s important to listen closely to what they say. And I can tell you, a lot of people have very, very negative sentiment.”
Matthias Schmidt, a German cars analyst, told BI that he expected Musk’s political implications to have an effect on European sales of Tesla, and said that competition as a pollute would probably obtain advantages of the advantages of the owners Tesla’s dissatisfied leaves its vehicles.
“I expect Tesla’s rivals are rubbing their hands together because this is the exact point where they need a big EV uptake for their own products,” said Schmidt.
“The more Elon Musk continues to shoot himself in the foot, if you like, the more Germans and European manufacturers can only benefit. For them, it’s like Christmas and all their birthdays coming all at once,” he added.
However, Nothard said consumers would be more involved with points like value and performance than Musk’s policy.
“I don’t think the client connects it. In the end, it’s a car, they like it, is it affordable for them?
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from BI.
Do you paint for Tesla or do you have one of his vehicles?Contact this reporter at tcarter@businessider. com or tcarter. 41 on the sign.
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