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Elon Musk is still facing backlash in Europe as his sales are on a downward trend for the past five months. This was reported by several media outlets on Thursday. Tesla sales dropped 28 percent in 30 European countries last month while overall EVs sales grew dramatically, according to AP.
“The poor showing comes after Tesla’s billionaire CEO had promised a ‘major rebound’ was coming last month, adding to a recent buying frenzy among investors,” the Associated Press wrote. The Washington-based news agency said that Tesla’s April sales fell by 49 percent to 7,261 compared with 14,228 in the same month of 2024.
Tesla’s European Sales have declined for five consecutive Months as Customers switch to cheaper Chinese EVs, and, in some instances, protesting against Musk’s political views. Electric vehicle (EVs) sales in Europe increased by 25% compared to last year’s same period. The market for battery EVs was robust in Germany, where Musk has irritated potential buyers by publicly supporting the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Germany party in elections. EV sales in Germany increased by 45 percent.
Spain and Germany: Car sales
Amongst the biggest EU markets, sales of new cars in Spain and Germany increased by 18.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. In France and Italy, they fell by 12.3 percent and 0.1 percentage points, respectively. reported.
In May, Chinese manufacturers experienced strong growth in Europe despite EU tariffs against Chinese electric vehicles. Jato Dynamics released data on Tuesday that showed the Asian country’s electric vehicle makers had sold 65.808 cars. This doubled their share of the market to 5.9 percent.
SAIC Motors of China, which sells EVs as well as other types, saw the biggest growth in Europe by 38 percent in May. The company was able to surpass Tesla who sold more vehicles in Europe a year prior.
Musk’s robotaxi launch
Musk stated that if the test goes well, then he plans to launch the service in other cities quickly and has up to a million automated taxis on the road by the end the year.
The service has received mostly positive reviews, but is limited to about a dozen cars. Some passengers shared videos showing problems they had during their ride, including a video of a robotaxi going down a road against the flow.
