Tesla’s sales in Europe collapsed by 45% in January, even as demand for electric vehicles surged across the continent, according to a report from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
The Elon Musk-led company registered just 9,945 cars last month, down from 18,161 a year ago. The Association pointed out that Musk’s political involvement is becoming a problem for Tesla in Europe.
Polls in Germany and the UK show that his support for far-right parties and attacks on political leaders are turning buyers away.
Unlike the US, where Tesla’s brand is deeply tied to Musk’s influence, European consumers are less forgiving of his shenanigans.
Though the sales slump isn’t just about politics. Tesla is revamping its Model Y production lines, which has led to inventory shortages in certain markets.
That alone could explain part of the decline in registrations, but it doesn’t account for the fact that rival EV makers are thriving in the same conditions, said the Association.
Tesla stock crashes after post-election surge fades
Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock also plunged over 8% on Tuesday, wiping billions off its market value and dragging it below the $1 trillion mark, according to data from Google Finance.
Tesla has now lost 25% of its value since the beginning of the year, making it one of the worst performers among major tech stocks.
Clearly, investors aren’t buying Tesla’s rebound story anymore. After a brief rally following Donald Trump’s election victory, Tesla’s stock has erased all gains.
The shares have plummeted 35% since December 16, while the Nasdaq is down just 1.5% in the same period.
Musk’s personal wealth has taken a hit as well. His net worth has plunged by more than $100 billion, though he still holds the title of world’s richest person, with $380 billion to his name.
Tesla’s China ambitions hit a wall
TSLA’s latest slide was triggered by a Reuters report on Monday, which revealed that Tesla’s long-awaited “navigate on city streets” feature in China was a disappointment.
Owners who tested the partially automated driving update found that it failed to meet Musk’s promises. The backlash piled onto Tesla’s growing list of challenges in China, where it is already struggling to keep up with local competitors.
Musk’s battle to expand Tesla’s self-driving technology in China is at a standstill too, as the company has been unable to secure regulatory approval due to escalating trade tensions between China and the US.
According to Musk, Chinese authorities won’t allow Tesla to move its training data out of the country, while the US has banned Tesla from processing that data inside China.
That standoff has frozen Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) expansion in China, making it a bargaining chip in trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington. Tesla’s reliance on China is now a liability.
China was once Tesla’s fastest-growing and most profitable foreign market, but now it’s slipping away. BYD has overtaken Tesla with a 35% market share in China, while Tesla’s share has shrunk to just 7%.
The company’s Shanghai gigafactory, once seen as a breakthrough, has now helped Chinese competitors scale faster than Tesla expected.
Tesla recalls over 376,000 vehicles over power steering failures
As if falling sales and stock crashes weren’t enough, Tesla is now dealing with a massive recall in the US. The company is recalling 376,241 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles built between February 28, 2023, and October 11, 2023, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The recall is reportedly due to a critical flaw in Tesla’s power-assisted steering system. Tesla told regulators that printed circuit boards in affected vehicles can become overstressed, which can cause power steering to fail when a car stops and then accelerates again.
The issue forces drivers to use extra force to steer, increasing the risk of accidents. Tesla claims there are no known crashes, injuries, or deaths related to the defect and says an over-the-air software update will fix it.
But all in all, Tesla’s long-running battle with US regulators has taken a turn, thanks to Musk’s new role in the Trump administration.
Trump recently appointed Musk to lead a team focused on shrinking the federal government workforce, which has already led to major cuts at the NHTSA—the very agency investigating Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) systems, a connection that Democratic critics like Senator Elizabeth Warren were quick to point out.
As Elon Musk plunges deeper into global politics, some Tesla owners in Europe are fighting back—finding creative ways to distance themselves from the billionaire’s growing ties to far-right movements.
For many longtime Tesla buyers, their purchase was about more than just an electric car—it was a statement about innovation, sustainability, and progress. But now, with Musk using his influence to help Trump return to the White House and publicly backing far-right and anti-establishment parties in Europe, some of those same owners are looking for ways to make their dissatisfaction known.
From charity donations to anti-Elon stickers
For Schwede, a European Tesla owner, getting rid of his car wasn’t an option—after racking up 60,000 miles, it had little resale value. Instead, he came up with a personal protest: for every kilometer he drives, he donates 10 cents to charities that support LGBTQ+ youth and fight hate groups.
“It was something Elon wouldn’t like,” Schwede said. “That’s my personal revenge.”
In Germany, Patrik Schneider faced an even more direct wake-up call when a stranger at a gas station heckled him, pointing at his Tesla and calling him a ‘Trump supporter.’
Schneider, stuck with a long-term lease on the vehicle, decided to take action in another way—creating and selling “Anti-Elon stickers” for Tesla owners who felt the same way.
His online store, launched six months ago, offers stickers with messages like “I bought this before Elon went crazy” and “Elon sucks.”
Demand skyrocketed after Musk hosted an interview with German far-right AfD leader Alice Weidel and appeared at an AfD rally, criticizing multiculturalism and Germany’s focus on its past.
Schneider now sells as many as 2,000 stickers per day, with orders pouring in from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, and even South Korea.
“Elon Musk does the advertising for us,” he joked.
Boycotts and corporate backlash
It’s not just individual Tesla owners pushing back—corporations and politicians are joining in.
In Poland, where six million people died under Nazi occupation, Tourism Minister Sławomir Nitras openly called for a Tesla boycott after Musk’s AfD rally appearance.
“Probably no normal Pole should buy a Tesla anymore,” he told Polish broadcaster Tok FM. “A serious and strong response is necessary, including a consumer boycott.”
In Germany, major businesses have already taken action:
- Drugstore chain Rossmann announced it would no longer buy Tesla cars for its corporate fleet, citing Musk’s support for Trump.
- Energy company LichtBlick declared on social media that it was “pulling the plug” on its Tesla vehicles because Musk was backing “a right-wing populist and extremist party.”
In the UK, the activist group Led by Donkeys projected Musk’s salute onto Tesla’s Berlin gigafactory, writing:
“The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is promoting the far right in Europe. Don’t buy a Tesla.”
Other activists in London took things further, plastering Tesla cars with stickers mocking Musk, and even erecting a parody bus stop ad that read:
“Tesla – The Swasticar. Goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds.”
Can Tesla survive the backlash?
Tesla’s rivals are already moving in.
Swedish EV maker Polestar is actively targeting disillusioned Tesla owners.
“We get a lot of people writing that they don’t like all this,” CEO Michael Lohscheller told Bloomberg. He said he had even instructed sales staff to reach out to Tesla drivers looking for an alternative.
In the Netherlands, a recent poll found that 31% of Tesla owners were either considering selling their car or had already done so.
But will the backlash last?
Matthias Schmidt, a Germany-based automotive analyst, says 2025 will be one of Tesla’s biggest tests.
“With all respect, consumers tend to be like goldfish; they forget things quickly,” he said. “But Germany is different because of its history… Musk backing the AfD may have done far more damage there than even his support for Trump.”
“It’s very clear Tesla Q1 deliveries are going to miss [Wall Street] expectations,” wrote Future Fund managing partner Gary Black, estimating that only 380,000 cars will be delivered—far below the current consensus of 422,000.
Black’s forecast is even worse than the sub-400,000 estimate from Troy Teslike, a widely followed Tesla production and delivery tracker.
Teslike had more bad news Tuesday, pointing out that the latest DMV vehicle identification data shows that Cybertruck production is now lower than any of the last three quarters.
“That would mean output is already declining just a year after launch,” he wrote—a major disappointment for Tesla’s most hyped and expensive model.
But it doesn’t stop there. Recent headlines about Musk’s personal life and erratic behavior have only added fuel to the fire. Musk fathered another child out of wedlock yet again, with conservative influencer Ashley St. Claire.
A bizarre feud with three astronauts led him to call for the early destruction of the International Space Station and used the r-word multiple times on X.
Musk also admitted to lying about his gaming skills—which, while trivial, added to the perception of dishonesty.
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