Brussels – Tesla’s collapse in Europe continues, and it is becoming increasingly steep. In April, sales of Elon Musk’s electric cars in EU countries more than halved compared to the same month the previous year. In the first quarter, the US car manufacturer recorded a 46 per cent decline compared to 2024.
The data figures released today (27 May) by the European Automobile Association (ACEA) are a verdict: 52 per cent down, from 11,540 cars sold in April 2024 to just 5,475 last month. It doesn’t get any better if the 27 EU countries are joined by the four EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) and the UK: Tesla lost 49 per cent of sales. The decline that began in January has become a precipice, and has little to do with the European electric car crisis and the slowing green transition. The problem is Musk, his connection to the White House, his contradictory stances, and his outspoken interferences in the internal affairs of the old continent and its member countries.
Musk himself, after announcing that he would leave the leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Donald Trump entrusted to him, said last weekend in a post on his X platform that he was “back to working 24/7 and sleeping in conference rooms, server rooms, and factories.” The multi-billionaire entrepreneur said he was ‘super focused’ on his companies, X, Tesla, and SpaceX.
Tesla’s decline in the EU was also evident in its overtaking, for the first time, by its Chinese competitor, BYD. Last month, the Shenzhen-based carmaker climbed to tenth place for sales in the single market, overtaking Tesla in eleventh. Skoda and Volkswagen topped the list.
When compared to the health of the European automotive market in general and the battery car market in particular, Musk’s slump is even more pronounced. According to ACEA’s data, the overall market has grown slightly, with new car registrations increasing by 1.3 per cent year-over-year. And even the share of electric vehicles is slowly gaining momentum, but growth remains incremental and uneven across EU countries,” stressed ACEA’s Director General, Sigrid de Vries.
In the first four months of the year, sales of battery electric cars increased by 26.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 558,262 units and accounting for 15.3 per cent of the total EU market. A still insignificant slice compared to hybrid vehicles, which continue to grow in popularity and are at 35.3 per cent of the total market. And also compared to petrol and diesel car sales, which are down ten percentage points from last year, but still at 38.2 per cent.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
