Tesla sales almost halve in Europe as Musk faces criticism over Trump ties
Sales of new Tesla cars almost halved in Europe last month, indicating waning demand for the US carmaker’s vehicles as its chief executive Elon Musk intervened repeatedly in the politics on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Texas-based carmaker sold 9,945 vehicles in Europe in January, down 45% from last year’s 18,161, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). Tesla’s share of the market dropped to 1% from 1.8%.
This could suggest that Musk’s interventions in European political affairs and senior role in Donald Trump’s administration
defunding and depopulating the US government
– includingshutting down its aid programme
– are leading to a consumer backlash.
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Elon Musk rebuffs claims that Tesla could invest in Nissan
The tech billionaire, a close adviser to the US president, has become a
vocal supporter of Germany’s far-right AfD party
in recent months, and described it in January as the “best hope for the future” inGermany
. On Monday, hecalled the party’s co-leader Alice Weidel
to congratulate her on the party’s performance in Germany’s national election after it doubled its support from the previous election.waded into the UK’s political row about grooming gangs
, publicly accusingKeir Starmer
and other senior politicians of covering up the scandal, despite there beingno evidence of any organised cover-up
.Emmanuel Macron, the French president, joined the Norwegian, British and German leaders in early January in
responding to a barrage of hostile social media posts by Musk
backing far-right political parties and criticising leftwing politicians inEurope
.Tesla sold 1,277 new cars last month in Germany, its lowest monthly total since July 2021, according to Bloomberg calculations. Sales in France plummeted 63% in its worst performance in the country since August 2022.
The company also registered fewer vehicles in the UK than its Chinese electric car rival BYD for the first time. Tesla’s sales fell by nearly 8% in an EV market that grew by 42% last month.
The slump came as the European market for new battery-electric cars grew by 34% to 124,341 units, capturing a 15% share of the total car market, the figures from the ACEA showed.
Three of the four largest markets in Europe, which together account for nearly two-thirds of all battery-electric car sales, recorded double-digit gains: Germany (+53.5%), Belgium (+37.2%) and the Netherlands (+28.2%), while France posted a slight dip of 0.5%.
The overall car market shrank by 2.1% in January. Many of the EU’s big markets recorded declines, with France down by 6.2%, Italy 5.8% lower and Germany losing 2.8%. Spain, however, recorded a 5.3% increase.