There are already the early Tesla sales figures from several European countries. Everywhere, the manufacturer has scored double-digit declines from February 2024, but there are growing indications that the impact of ‘evil Elon Musk’ is minimal to non-existent. February 2024 is the period of massive deliveries of the facelifted version, the Tesla Model 3 Highland, meanwhile February 2025 is when the excitement of the Highland is long gone, moreover, stocks of the first Tesla Model Y are running out and Europe is waiting for facelifted units.
Tesla’s latest performance in Europe
The figures compiled by Roland Pircher show that in the Netherlands, Tesla scored a 24 per cent year-on-year decline in February, 44 per cent in France and 46 per cent in Portugal. In Norway, sales of the Tesla Model Y alone fell by exactly two-thirds (66.6 per cent; preliminary figures) – and this is the key to the hypothesis about the negligible impact of ‘evil Elon Musk’ on European sales of the brand’s cars that we included in the introduction to the article.
France reported 2,395 Tesla sales and 1.7% market share in February. BEV penetration is 17.9% and Tesla has 9.5% of this segment. 🇫🇷
• 73% Model Y and 27% Model 3
• -26% vs. February last year
• Last three months -15.5% vs. September – November
• Year-to-date -44% over same… pic.twitter.com/GBx1OboDyZ— Roland Pircher (@piloly) March 1, 2025
Let’s explain: The Tesla Model Y is the most popular car in the range and generally generates sales of 60-70 per cent of the total [figures based on number of registrations; Tesla doesn’t disclose them]. If it was delivered in limited numbers in February (in Norway, a third of the year-on-year result), that means that only the anticipation of the facelift will trigger a noticeable slide of 40-47 per cent. This range fits perfectly with what is seen in France and Portugal, and if this is the European average, Tesla has nothing to worry about for now, at least not because of Musk.
The absence of the Model Y is very evident in the Chinese market data (last bars, note the orange area), so February will be the perfect month for those who want to declare Elon Musk’s demise in Europe 😉 Deliveries of the facelifted version will only slowly take off in the last week of the month.
(c) Roland Pircher / X
In China the self-driving FSD has already appeared, in Europe it is still waiting ‘for regulatory approval’ (below). Costing £39,000, the software package is unlikely to generate gigantic sales, but it will certainly bring Tesla fame similar to that of Autopilot in the past decade. Even drivers sceptical about the electric drive were surprised by its abilities. And such fame is worth more than millions on TV ads; it should translate into traffic in showrooms.
We are waiting for regulatory approval
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2025
Full figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) will be around the 22nd of the month. The earliest you can talk about Tesla’s problems or not will be after the April results, i.e. at the end of May 2025.
