Tesla gross sales in Europe have collapsed by one-third this yr, knowledge exhibits, after Elon Musk warned the electrical carmaker confronted “a number of tough quarters” forward.
Based on the figures printed on Thursday by the European Car Producers Affiliation (ACEA), gross sales of Tesla automobiles in Europe slumped by 33% to 110,000 within the first half of 2025, in contrast with 165,000 within the first half of 2024.
The information suggests Tesla continues to be making an attempt to emerge from a gross sales rut in Europe, even after releasing a refreshed model of the Mannequin Y, its bestselling automobile. It’s not the one carmaker struggling to tempt European prospects, with complete new automobile gross sales throughout the EU down by 7% in June.
Nevertheless, Tesla faces particular challenges. Musk, whose shares within the firm have made him the world’s richest man, has contributed to the decline by backing Europe’s far-right political events, and briefly allying himself with Donald Trump, who’s deeply unpopular throughout the continent.
The Tesla chief govt’s alliance with Trump has since blown up spectacularly, whereas the corporate has come underneath stress within the US from the president’s anti-EV insurance policies.
Gross sales throughout Europe – together with the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland – have been down for the US carmaker by greater than a fifth year-on-year in June, to 35,000.
Tesla shares fell by 6% in pre-market buying and selling earlier than Wall Road opened on Thursday, after Musk stated on Wednesday evening that the electrical automobile pioneer “most likely might have a number of tough quarters” forward.
Musk linked falling earnings to Trump slashing the incentives out there for electrical carmakers.
The president’s tax and spending plans embody a clampdown on gross sales of emissions credit by electrical automobile makers to extra closely polluting rivals, which had supplied billions of {dollars} of income for Tesla over a number of years.
The electrical automobile maker stated revenues fell by 12% within the second quarter in contrast with the identical interval final yr, coming in at $22.5bn (£16.6bn); beneath Wall Road expectations of $22.7bn. Working earnings additionally fell to $900m, a 42% lower since final yr.
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The UK has been a uncommon brilliant spot for Tesla in Europe, with gross sales down only one.3% year-on-year within the first half of the 2025, in line with the Society of Motor Producers and Merchants, the British business’s foyer group. But the image within the EU has been bleak: the ACEA knowledge confirmed Tesla gross sales have been down by 40% year-on-year in June within the EU, and 44% down within the first half of 2025.
Throughout all European markets, Tesla’s share of gross sales has dropped from 2.4% in 2024 to 1.6% in 2025 – though it could regain some floor as gross sales of the refreshed Mannequin Y decide up throughout the continent.
But relatively than bettering the merchandise purchased by shoppers, Musk is pinning a lot of his hopes on future earnings from driverless taxis run by AI. The corporate has launched a pilot taxi programme in Austin, Texas, and Musk has repeatedly touted it as the corporate’s principal alternative.
Matt Britzman, an fairness analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, an funding platform, stated Tesla’s second-quarter numbers have been “objectively poor”.
“The standard playbook for the previous few quarters has been declining fundamentals however sufficient AI hype to maintain buyers sleeping at evening,” he stated. “Tesla is in a really small cohort of corporations with sufficient progress potential that buyers are, for now not less than, keen to look previous weakening core financials.”
