Registrations of new Tesla cars in several key European markets fell in July, despite a revamp to its signature Model Y, as the EV maker struggles with a backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s political views, regulatory challenges and rising competition.
Tesla’s aging lineup is facing a wave of low-cost EV rivals, especially from China. It is rolling out a revamped Model Y and starting to produce a new, cheaper model, but production of that will only ramp up next quarter, later than initially expected.
The brand’s registrations – a proxy for sales – fell 86 per cent year-on-year in July to 163 cars in Sweden, 52pc to 336 cars in Denmark, 27pc to 1,307 in France, 62pc to 443 in the Netherlands and 58pc to 460 in Belgium, official industry data showed, marking a seventh straight monthly drop in all of those countries.
They also fell by 5pc to 457 cars in Italy and 49pc to 284 in Portugal.
Tesla sales dropped by over a third in Europe in the first six months of the year.
Norway and Spain bucked the trend, with Tesla’s July registrations up 83pc and 27pc to 838 cars and 702 cars, respectively.
Spain recorded a 155pc jump in total sales of electrified cars – either battery electric or plug-in hybrid. Tesla’s Chinese competitor BYD sold 2,158 cars in Spain in July, almost eight times more than in July 2024.
With no more affordable-end vehicles on the horizon until the last three months of the year and the upcoming end of a $7,500 US tax break for EV buyers, Musk acknowledged in July that Tesla could have “a few rough quarters”.
He said tough automated driving regulations in Europe made it harder to sell the Model Y in some countries, as the vehicle’s optional supervised self-driving is “a huge selling point”.
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