Tesla sales in Europe plunge 40% in February as market share drops
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Tesla’s European sales plunged 43 per cent in the first two months of the year, deviating from the 31 per cent rise in industry-wide EV registrations.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Tesla’s electric vehicle sales have fallen in 10 of the last 12 months in Europe, with the carmaker struggling mightily at the beginning of 2025.
The Elon Musk-led company registered 16,888 new cars in February, down 40 per cent from a year ago, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. Tesla’s sales plunged 43 per cent in the first two months of the year, deviating from the 31 per cent rise in industry-wide EV registrations.
Tesla commanded 1.8 per cent of the total market and 10.3 per cent of the battery-electric market in February, down from 2.8 per cent and 21.6 per cent a year ago respectively.
The figures show Tesla dug a deep hole for itself before the company started deliveries of the redesigned Model Y – its most popular vehicle – in the first week of March.
The carmaker is counting on the refreshed model to drum up business even as Mr Musk, its chief executive officer, has become a more polarising figure as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump.
Mr Musk’s detractors have targeted Tesla stores, charging stations and even its customers’ vehicles early in Mr Trump’s second term – both in the United States and abroad.
The billionaire’s polling numbers took a hit as he tried to influence voting in Germany’s federal election in February, and he has since called for the US to pull out of Nato and stop paying for the defence of Europe.
Tesla’s registrations in March and the following few months will offer investors more clarity as to how much of a role Mr Musk’s politics are playing in its sales declines.
Changing over to the new Model Y required pausing production at factories around the world early in 2025, including at the company’s assembly plant outside Berlin. Those disruptions cost the company weeks of output and either lost or deferred sales. BLOOMBERG
