Early car sales data for January is starting to arrive from countries across the pond, and they paint an alarming picture for Tesla. Sales are crashing in France, Germany, and the UK—all affluent countries that are key markets for Tesla’s electric vehicles. Coming on the heels of a large financial miss, it’s just one more problem for the automaker.
Tesla sales dropped around 13 percent across Europe in 2024, but so far this year, the scale of the problem is far greater. In France, sales of new Teslas fell by 63 percent, while total car sales in the country fell by just 6 percent, with EV sales dropping just half a percent.
Germany was already looking like lost ground for Tesla—its 41 percent drop in 2024 accounted for most of Tesla’s lost sales across Europe. That must make the 59 percent drop in German Tesla sales recorded during January even more painful on the profit and loss statements.
Across the Channel, the British auto industry just released its sales data for January. Here, Tesla sales fell less precipitously—just 12 percent. However, battery EV sales were 35 percent higher in the UK in January 2025 than in January 2024. The cake is growing, but Tesla is getting to eat less and less of it.
In fact, no Tesla cracked the UK’s top 10 best-seller list last month, something that has regularly happened in the past, although that may be due to having just two models for >sale in most markets.
Large declines have also been recorded in Sweden (44 percent), Norway (38 percent), and the Netherlands (42 percent).
I’m not going to sell a perfectly useable Model Y after a year just because the CEO is a cunt. But I’m going to tell everyone that he’s a cunt with 30 stickers plastered all over the useless rear window
Turns out that siding against voters interested in human sustainability, and pro oil extortionist conservatives bent on climate and human destruction is not a good EV marketing strategy. I have an MBA… AMA
Also doing a nazi salute in front of thousands of people with full blown media coverage.
WWII might be a distant memory for Americans, but most of Europeans have been to historical sites of Jewish genocide.
I’m still friends with my ex, who’s American (as I am), but it’s far from a distant memory for her. 90% of her extended family on her mother’s side died in Auschwitz. Nearly as many on her father’s side were murdered too,
Unfortunately, for most Americans, WW2 is more of a call of duty plot.
This sparks joy.
Well for obvious reasons. But also bcs their product is crap quality. My neighbour keeps on pouring grand after grand for stupid repairs into his model S
Nearest repair center is 2 hours away
That can’t be, teslas never break and don’t need maintenance. Many people said it, smart people
Doing a from-heart-to-sun salute tends to hurt sales in UK and Germany, who woulda thought. The stereotype about French is that they don’t care and might even like it, but maybe this is also about build and design quality.
You know it was the French revolution that popularised the guillotine as a means of dealing with wealthy elites?
But yeah I don’t see how Tesla is going to ever repair the damage to their image, unless they can kick musk out and that doesn’t seem likely.
Make a product line of electric guillotines? And dogfood with Musk.
Anyway, the French revolution is not considered a one-sided success.
You may want to read the text before commenting nonsense, the French are not pleased either.
| Sales are crashing in France, Germany, and the UK […] In France, sales of new Teslas fell by 63 percent
I don’t see what justify your attack, it seems unnecessary to attack people based on their nationality. Yes, we do have a far-right issue in France, but it’s pretty much the same as everywhere else in Europe and there is still a resisting left here, not all hope is lost. Also, regarding your comment below, the white flag stereotype for France comes from 2003, when the US and allies invaded and destroyed Irak, but for once France stood against the US imperialism.
___the white flag stereotype for France comes from 2003
It actually comes (unfairly) from the French army mutinies of 1917 and (also unfairly) from France’s surrender to Hitler in 1940, in addition to their not joining in the fun in Iraq. All of which obscures a prior thousand-year history of kicking the shit out of people.
I was just joking, but you forgot to say that this
kicking the shit out of people
can be made more specific, they were regularly kicking the shit out of Germans. Germans were the suffering side saying “thanks for punishing me, master” for most of those years. Not even counting, obviously, Normans kicking the shit out of English.
It’s a joke, it’s supposed to be grotesque. Grotesque is usually different from adequate to reality.
That’s first, second, my comment does incorporate the fact that the French are not pleased either. You may want to improve your skills of processing two-sentence comments.
Oops, this one is four sentences, I guess it’s going to hurt.
What stereotype?
White-flag secretly-fascist Vichy one
Ah, the historically inaccurate, war criminal powered (Bush), meme. I forgot it included also a taste for the Vichy regime.
Strange to mention that and ignore Germany, the country that, you know, back then and now, has always been way more on the right than France.
“Punish France, ignore Germany” is still the current policy.
Germany lost, so it won’t be funny for them.
“Europe and the UK” did they move the UK to another continent, or did they mean the EU?
The UK is technically on a few islands, one can use Gibraltar to argue, of course, and historically English crown did possess lots of land in Normandy, Anjou, Aquitaine and even Flanders, also that union with Hannover, but ahem.
Bunch of EU countries have land outside the mainland though
Most of their land you mean? EU yes, Europe has many definitions
Its investment in the Cybertruck is of no help in the region, as the steel-clad pickup truck is too large and heavy for use with a normal driver’s license and does not conform to road legality regulations.
I was not aware of this. Further reasons to laugh at Musk are always welcome!
Anyone driving anything close to a pickup here is a knob. Ford Rangers or Raptors are for men whos wives dress them.
Hilux was acceptable but they are in the same boat now, you all look ridiculous.
I’m a sole trader, Stone Mason, I make enough to buy a used vehicle, but not new. Know what I would love? A light duty truck, no crew cab road princess bullshit, two seats in front, maybe a single half door passenger side for putting stuff behind the seats, and a properly sized bed. There’s no such thing on the used market. There’s absolutely uses for small trucks for trades folk. Back in Canada I had an older Ford Ranger, from when they were a rebadged Mitsubishi B3200. I would step over my dying gran for something like that here in the UK. The new Rangers are a fucking joke, FWD, crew cab standard, and they’re the size of the old F-150s, completely unusable in the UK. I’m thinking about maybe importing a Japanese Kei Truck. There’s some larger ones that are smaller than an old Ranger, but big enough for what I need…and they look cool AF.
@Sturgist @Squizzy #Suzuki #MightyBoy has entered the chat https://www.teammightyboy.com/suzuki-mightyboy-history.html
It’s so cute!
I used to have a proton jumbuck, really useful little pickup. But they’re hard to find in the UK and getting parts can be tricky.
Yeah, easy access to parts is pretty important.
…I had to look it up, it looks like one of the guys who worked on the design of the El Camino smooth talked someone in C-Suite that it was their own idea that releasing one that was modernised would sell super well. That might sound like I’m taking potshots, but I love the El Camino and I would buy a Jumbuck in a heartbeat.
Yeah, el Caminos look proper cool. TBH I thought my jumbuck looked pretty cool too. And it was really useful, at the time I was hauling a lot of wood and it drove just fine with a heavy load. I think it was maybe a 1.2 petrol engine iirc. They are pretty cheap if you can find them, I sold mine with 6 months MOT for about £500 . But yeah, parts are tricky, which isn’t great with a work vehicle
I had a Mazda Pricidia (MX-3) for a few years before I bought the Ranger. Thing was great. I had the rear seat pulled out and got a joiner pal build a custom wooden bed to put in. Did double duty, was enough to hold a week’s worth of veneer stone and thinset plus my tools. Built-in storage boxes under the top. And with the front seats folded all the way forward there was an extra piece I could drop in, and all of a sudden you’ve got enough space for a double size inflatable camping mattress. I miss that thing.
Yeah that sounds like a pretty decent solution. I know someone who did something similar to a Volvo estate. Bit crazy though that we’ve got to modify old vehicles to get a suitable work motor - seems like a gap in the market. VW made some sensible size pickups back in the 80s - but like the jumbuck they are old now. I hate to say it, but you might do better with a transit or sprinter. It’s enclosed space but you’ve got room for tools n stuff.
They have there place, but they are in the same boat as vans etc. They are commercial vehicles, to do a job, not city runabouts to stroke egos.
Yeah, get a van. The only people on site with these are lads with more money than work, mammy and daddy funded, or the developer who wouldnt see concrete dust land on it.
A van can’t deal with even remotely muddy grass. I lost count of how many vans I rescued, back when I had my pickup. They are also a lot less effective at dragging a horse trailer etc. Vans also (generally) don’t have back seats. If you’re also having to trek up and down the motorways, then the comfort of the ranger makes a big difference.
