Tesla's Sales Are Somehow Continuing to Fall

If there's a light at the end of the tunnel for Tesla, it's an oncoming Model Y trapped inside Elon Musk's dorky Vegas Loop.

Already in a dire deliveries slump while its brand image goes up in flames, the EV automaker experienced yet another devastating plummet in sales last month in several of its most important European markets, in what is the latest sign of how its CEO's bizarre behavior is driving customers away.

In Sweden, Tesla's new car sales nosedived by a staggering 81 percent in April, Reuters reported, to its lowest level in two and half years. Sales in the Netherlands experienced a 74 percent decline, the lowest for that month since 2022. That decline looked like 59 percent in France, while Denmark sales dropped by 67 percent, and sales in Portugal fell by a third.

Even worse, Tesla is trending in the exact opposite direction of the European EV market overall, which is blossoming. In the first quarter, according to new data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association cited by Reuters, Tesla sales in the continent, including the UK, fell by 37 percent, while EV sales rose by 28 percent. Last year, Tesla sold 86,000 cars over that time period. This year, it sold 54,000.

This is Musk's vaunted business acumen at work. His support of far right politics, his role in the Trump administration, and his off-cuff Sieg Heils have made him an extremely unpopular figure in Europe, where customers have seemingly little patience for his thinly-veiled Nazi bullshit. Protestors and vandals, for example, have smashed up Tesla dealerships and spray painted them with anti-Nazi slogans.  

"The brand has taken a reputational hit here in Europe," Electrifying.com CEO Ginny Buckle told Reuters. In a survey of over 1,642 people between March and April conducted by the website, 59 percent of respondents said that Musk made them less inclined to buy a Tesla.

Tesla is also facing a lot more competition than it used to. Its fleet has remained largely the same, and its newest and most "exciting" vehicle, the Cybertruck, isn't even legal in Europe. 

"Tesla's technological lead has largely been eroded with the current model lineup," Andy Leyland, co-founder of supply chain specialist SC Insights, told Reuters. "Competition from both legacy auto and Chinese entrants will be weighing on sales."

With so many red flags popping up, the automaker looks doomed for a repeat of last year, when its net profits more than halved from $15 billion to $7 billion and its revenue from car sales dipped by over $5 billion, experiencing its first-ever annual decline in deliveries. 

This year, Tesla revealed that its number of vehicle sales dropped by 13 percent between January and March, making it the worst sales drop in the company's history. During that period, its earnings fell by 71 percent compared to the same quarter last year — far worse than what analysts expected — while its total revenue slid by nine percent. Tesla could also lose its lucrative revenue from selling carbon credits, if Trump delivers on his promise to revert the Biden-era regulations that made them possible.

All told, Tesla faces significant hurdles to restoring its sales and its image. Investors hope their savior will be the automaker's long-hyped, affordable $25,000 car — but it's unclear when that will even hit the market.

More on Tesla: Elon Musk Erupts in Rage at News That Tesla Trying to Replace Him as CEO

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