- Tesla sales across Europe declined around 13% in 2024
- The number of UK registrations of Teslas was 1,458 in January this year
- No Tesla model has cracked the UK’s top 10 bestseller list
Tesla sales across Europe declined by an average of 13% in 2024, with sales set to drop even further.
According to the FT, in January sales of new Teslas in France fell by 63% year on year, while total car sales fell in the country by 6%. Electric vehicle (EV) sales dropped by just 0.5%.
Meanwhile, in Germany Tesla saw a 41% drop in sales in 2024, which has increased to 59% in January. This follows Telsa owner Elon Musk’s vocal support for the far-right AfD party in recent German elections, which prompted campaigners to project a protest video onto the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin – see Tweet below from Led By Donkeys.
The AfD (Alternative for Germany) came second behind the CDU/CSU party led by Friedrich Merz on Sunday. Merz has already ruled the anti-immigration and anti-Muslim party out of the coalition government that he’ll need to take power.
UK picture
In the UK, Tesla sales have declined less sharply, at just 12% in January. However, EV sales more generally were 35% higher year on year, indicating that Tesla is losing significant market share in the UK.
The number of UK registrations of Teslas was 1,458 in January, compared to 1,581 in the same month last year (down 8.4% year on year), according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
What’s more, according to the latest car sales figures, no Tesla model cracked the UK’s top 10 bestseller list. Large declines have also been recorded in Sweden at 44%, Norway at 38% and the Netherlands at 42%.
The fall comes despite a surge in new purchases of EVs. New AutoMotive, a transport research organisation, found that more than one in five new car buyers are choosing to purchase an EV in the UK, up 34% compared to 2024.
There was a notable spike in the UK in the number of electric Minis, which jumped from just over 200 in January 2024, to more than 1,000 a year later.
While it’s not certain what has caused the sharp drop in Tesla sales, reports suggest that the behaviour of Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, could be to blame.
Following a reported US$250m+ in political donations to help get US President Donald Trump get re-elected, Musk was appointed to co-lead a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
He has become increasingly political on on his social platform X (formerly Twitter) in recent months, and has been accused of amplifying Germany’s far-right on the platform, and calling for UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign over the grooming gangs scandal – going on to suggest that Britain was heading for ‘civil war’ due to its immigration and border policies.
