Germans Are Buying More Electric Cars, but Not Teslas

 

Germans Are Buying More Electric Cars, but Not Teslas

 

Drivers in the country, Europe’s largest car market, are avoiding vehicles from Tesla, which has seen a drop in sales in other countries as well.

 

Melissa Eddy

By Melissa Eddy

Melissa Eddy has been tracking Tesla sales across Europe from Berlin.

June 4, 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/business/tesla-elon-musk-germany-europe-sales.html

 

Tesla sales in Germany dropped in May for the fifth month in a row, as demand for the electric vehicle maker continued to slide across much of Europe, despite Elon Musk’s efforts to turn his focus away from his U.S. government activities and back to his companies.

 

Registrations of new Tesla cars in Germany, Europe’s largest car market, dropped more than a third from the same month last year, data released by the country’s Federal Motor Transport Authority, K.B.A., showed on Wednesday.

 

Tesla sales in other European countries have also remained depressed, falling more than 67 percent in France and 29 percent in Spain in May.

 

Only Norway stood out as an exception, with Tesla selling 2,600 cars in May, more than triple the number sold a year earlier. Sales were led by deliveries of Tesla’s newly revamped version of its most popular vehicle, the Model Y.

 

In neighboring Sweden, Volkswagen sold nearly twice as many of its latest electric model, the ID.7, as the new Model Y from Tesla, whose overall sales in the country dropped 53 percent.

 

Mr. Musk has tried to downplay the extent of Tesla’s losses in Europe, telling Bloomberg News in an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum that although it was the region where the brand faces its greatest challenges, “the European car market is quite weak.”

 

But data from European markets does not support that claim. In Germany, sales of battery-powered cars grew nearly 45 percent in May, compared with a year earlier. In Spain, overall sales of electric cars grew 72 percent, while Tesla sales slid 19 percent.

 

In Germany, demand for BYD, Tesla’s main E.V. rival, rose ninefold, the strongest showing of an electric vehicle producer from China. The company, which overtook Tesla as the world’s top seller of electric cars this year, has been making inroads in Europe, despite facing tariffs of 17 percent imposed by the European Union in 2024.

 

Although Mr. Musk has left his role at the White House, Tesla sales have been affected by his foray into politics. In April, the company reported that its vehicle sales fell 13 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, as profit plunged to its lowest level in four years.

 

The company has been hurt by protests against Mr. Musk’s support for President Trump and several far-right parties in France, Germany and Italy.

 

Melissa Eddy is based in Berlin and reports on Germany’s politics, businesses and its economy.