Tesla‘s sales in Europe have witnessed a significant decline for the seventh consecutive month, driven by mounting public dissatisfaction with CEO Elon Musk’s political remarks. In July, the Shanghai-based company sold a mere 6,600 vehicles. That’s a huge drop from the 11,465 units sold in the comparable month of a year ago. This decline represents a 44% reduction in Tesla’s sales across the European market for the first seven months of the year.
Musk’s culture war antics, including his support for far-right political candidates, have chased away many would-be customers. He even provoked a similar display of outrage this past week when he labeled a British prime minister an “evil tyrant.” Unless citizens voted out anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, he warned, “it will become very, very, very much worse.” Unfortunately, these statements catalyzed protests against Musk this week in Milan, London, and other cities.
Still, even considering these market conditions, Tesla’s share of the total car market in July was just 0.7%. By contrast, domestic competitor BYD was able to achieve a market share of 1.1% over that same period. In fact, for the first seven months of the year, Tesla represented a measly 1.2% of all aggregate car sales across Europe. Meanwhile, BYD had a strong second place with 0.9%.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Elon Musk has promised an imminent sales rebound. By March 2022, when he predicted that Tesla’s Full-Self Driving software would be approved for use. By August 2025, it’s still not approved. The absence of this regulatory endorsement has hindered Tesla owners in Europe from utilizing some of the advanced driver-assistance features that are already available in the United States.
While opposition to Musk’s new political orientation has been ongoing, Europeans are still reluctant to buy Tesla cars. His forecasts of a sales comeback have not materialized. This delay makes the company’s position in the cutthroat European automotive market even more tenuous.
“Things will get very, very much worse.” – Elon Musk
