Headlines
Tesla's sales rout in some European markets extends to eighth month
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 1, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 1, 2025
4 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Tesla's sales in Europe face an eight-month decline due to competition and backlash against Elon Musk. Norway and Spain see growth, but BYD outpaces Tesla.
By Nick Carey and Amir Orusov
LONDON (Reuters) -Tesla's sales rout this year in several European markets continued in August amid fierce competition from EV rivals and a backlash against CEO Elon Musk, although Norway and Spain bucked the trend.
Data from France on Monday showed registrations for Tesla cars fell 47.3% in August versus the same month in 2024, while the overall car market grew nearly 2.2%.
Tesla registrations fell more than 84% in Sweden - where electric vehicle sales were flat and the market overall was up 6% - and dropped 42% in Denmark. Tesla registrations in the Netherlands were down 50% in August.
Sales in Norway and Spain rose but growth was well below that of China's top electric carmaker BYD.
Norway, where Tesla has deep roots and virtually all new car sales are electric, saw a 21.3% jump in registrations for the U.S. EV maker. But rival BYD saw registrations spike 218%.
In Spain, which provides EV subsidies of up to 7,000 euros ($8,195), Tesla's sales rose 161% to 1,435 cars from 549 in August last year. But BYD's sales rose more than 400% to 1,827 cars.
Year to date, BYD's sales in Spain have surged 675% to 14,181 cars, while Tesla's sales have risen 11.6% to 9,303 vehicles.
Andy Leyland, co-founder of supply chain specialist SC Insights, said Tesla's registration numbers for Spain may have been skewed by a large vehicle shipment arriving in the country in August and quarterly numbers will provide a clearer picture of its performance there.
Tesla has several problems in Europe.
The company has a small, ageing lineup and has not released a new mass-market model since the Model Y in 2020, while new Chinese rivals and traditional automakers alike are flooding the market with fresh models.
"One reason we are continuing to see disappointing Tesla volumes can partially be attributed to a more competitive market environment," said Matthias Schmidt, European autos market analyst at Schmidt Automotive.
Schmidt added that Musk's insistence during the automaker's second-quarter investor call in July that "there are no issues with Tesla volumes on the European market", when its market share in western Europe fell to 1.7% in the first half of the year from 2.5% in 2024, made him "sound delusional."
Earlier this year Tesla representatives in Europe argued that the automaker's sales decline was largely because production was shifting over to the revamped Model Y, which was Europe's top-selling car in 2023.
Deliveries of the revised Model Y began across much of Europe in June, but Model Y sales were down 46.5% in Denmark in August and 87% in Sweden.
SECONDHAND MARKET
Tesla's competitive problems have been compounded by Musk's politics - he helped bankroll Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election win last year and has championed European far-right parties - which have sparked a fierce consumer backlash.
Ginny Buckley, CEO of Electrifying.com, said the EV advice website has been tracking consumer sentiment towards Tesla since the beginning of the year.
"What's clear is that Musk's influence on the brand has become increasingly polarizing," Buckley said.
Over half of those surveyed by Electrifying.com said Elon Musk is putting them off buying a Tesla, "signalling Tesla's dominance is no longer a given."
SC Insights' Leyland said Tesla's sales are also being undermined by the low cost of used Tesla EVs in the secondhand market.
Tesla slashed the price of new cars dramatically starting in 2023, seriously undermining the value of used Teslas that are now being snapped up.
Marketcheck, which collects used vehicle data in the United Kingdom, said that sales of used Teslas hit a record in July, jumping 270%. The average price for a used Model Y hit a new low in July, down 41% since July 2023, Marketcheck said.
($1 = 0.8542 euros)
(Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Consumer sentiment refers to the overall attitude of consumers towards a particular product or brand, often influenced by personal experiences, brand reputation, and market conditions.
Market dynamics are the forces that impact the supply and demand of products in a market, including competition, consumer preferences, and economic conditions.
Brand perception is how consumers view and interpret a brand based on their experiences, marketing, and public relations efforts.
A sales decline occurs when a company experiences a decrease in sales revenue over a specific period, often indicating challenges in the market or with the product.
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