9:59 am, May 28, 2025
Tesla’s European sales dropped off a cliff in April, despite the new EV market more generally enjoying a strong month.
That is according to new data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which reported a 49% drop off in Tesla sales throughout the fourth month of the year.
The data found that sales of Tesla vehicles in 32 European countries tumbled to 7,261 in April, compared to 14,228 in the same month last year.
Experts say the numbers are the latest indication of how much the Tesla brand is suffering as a result of the backlash against billionaire chief executive Elon Musk.
To make matters worse for the American giant, sales of battery-electric vehicles by all manufacturers throughout the month rose by around 28%, while sales of petrol and diesel-powered cars slumped.
The figures, which cover the European Union’s 27 member countries and five other nations outside the bloc, back up early data from Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark released earlier this month that had pointed to a sales collapse for Tesla.
The brand has been reeling from protests and boycotts over Musk’s controversial political involvement, but it also faces other factors including an aging model line-up and intensifying competition from rival electric vehicle (EV) brands, particularly from China.
Analysts also say that Donald Trump’s trade war has also turned Europeans off buying American brands with the president recently threatening to impose a 50% tariff on EU goods, accusing the bloc of being ‘very difficult to deal with’.
For the first four months of the year, Tesla’s European sales fell roughly 39% to 61,320 while the continent’s auto market as a whole showed little change during the same period, according to the data.
For April, car sales in the EU edged up 1.3% from the previous year, ‘showing signs of recovery despite the ongoing unpredictable global economic environment’, the group said in a press release.
