The Tesla brand remains in freefall in Europe as April sales in four key electric vehicles (EV) European markets recorded double-digit drops for Elon Musk’s business.
This comes as the Tesla boss has hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons while his political activism has disappointed the market. Europe is the second largest market for electric vehicles after China.
European business is not pleasing for Tesla
According to Fortune, the business appears to be in full-blown meltdown in Europe. Registrations of Tesla vehicles – which lag retail sales slightly- continued on a downward trend at a double-digit rate, be it France or Sweden, and Netherlands or Switzerland.
Volumes dropped 59% to 863 cars in France for the month of April. Sales went down 81% to just 203 cars in Sweden, where there is a labor dispute between Tesla and the local IF Metall trade union.
In the Netherlands, the EV maker sold 382 cars during the month of April, representing a 74% decline. The script was the same in Switzerland, where only 227 cars were sold, representing a 50% drop.
These markets are relatively wealthy, with a significant EV public charging network, and enjoy a penetration rate of EVs far higher than Spain, Italy, or most of Eastern Europe. In other words, they tend to be where conditions for Tesla are most favorable, according to Fortune.
However, it was not all doom and gloom as there was a bright spot in in the form of Norway, which recorded a 12% growth in sales to 976 cars.
During the first four months of the year, Tesla’s grand total stood at 19,771 cars registered across all five markets, and this is roughly the equivalent of two weeks of sales in China.
Has Musk inflicted permanent damage on Tesla?
Tesla’s investors have been hoping that its historically weak Q1 performance was an anomaly because of a changeover from the older version of the Model Y, which has been on the market in Europe since 2021, to the newer one, complete with some fresher styling to the front and rear.
However, there has been little or no sign that the newer version will rekindle interest in the brand on the continent.
In advance of the “Juniper” derivative’s March launch, all four of Tesla’s factories shut down their Model Y assembly line for retooling in February, which significantly cut availability, subsequently leading to weak Q1 results.
The company missed Wall Street’s expectations as it reported $19.34 billion in revenue for the first quarter against the $21.37 billion that analysts had projected.
While the figures show a gloomy picture for Tesla, it is critical to note that several car markets have yet to publish their figures, among them Germany and the UK, which make up the largest and second largest in Europe, respectively.
There are also concerns the market is showing disapproval at Musk, who has attracted media attention for the wrong reasons, from cheating on video games and lying about it, allegations of failing to pay child support for some of his 14 children to attacking the judiciary branch for attempts to limit President Trump’s powers.
His political activism in Europe has also been met with a backlash by local customers. He reportedly supported far-right figures like English Defense League founder Tommy Robinson in the UK – someone so extreme that even Trump ally Nigel Farage distances himself from him.
In Germany, a similar situation unfolded where Musk reportedly supported the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) during the recent election. The party was on Friday classified as a right-wing extremist in its entirety.
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