Tesla lags sales of cheaper Chinese EVs in Europe

Brussels — Tesla’s new car sales in Europe fell 27.9% in May from a year earlier even as fully-electric vehicle sales in the region jumped 27.2%, with the US EV maker’s revised Model Y yet to show signs of reviving the brand's fortunes.

Overall car sales in Europe rose 1.9%, with the strongest growth coming from plug-in hybrids and cars powered by alternative fuels, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed.

Model Y

Tesla's European sales have now fallen for five straight months as customers switch to cheaper Chinese EVs and, in some cases, protest against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s politics.

Tesla’s European market share dropped to 1.2% in May from 1.8% a year ago.

The revised Model Y is meant to revamp the company’s ageing model range as traditional automakers and Chinese rivals launch EVs at a rapid pace amid trade tensions.

Chinese manufacturers kept up their strong growth in Europe last month despite EU tariffs on Chinese EVs, selling 65,808 cars and doubling their market share to 5.9%, according to separate data released on Tuesday by JATO Dynamics.

BYD registered nearly as many vehicles as Tesla in May, after outselling it in April.

SAIC Motor

May new car sales in the EU, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose to 1.11-million vehicles after a 0.3% dip in April, ACEA data showed.

Registrations at Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor and Germany’s BMW rose 22.5% and 5.6%, respectively, while they fell 23% at Japan’s Mazda.

In the EU total car sales have fallen 0.6% so far this year.

That comes despite growing demand for EVs, with registrations of battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid-electric cars rising 26.1%, 15% and 19.8%, respectively, as the combined EU sales accounted for 58.9% of passenger car registrations in May, up from 48.9% in May 2024.

Among the largest EU markets, new car sales in Spain and Germany rose 18.6% and 1.2%, respectively, while in France and Italy they dropped 12.3% and 0.1%.

In Britain, registrations were up 1.6%.

Reuters