Tesla Europe sales nearly halve in April as competition, Musk boycott persist

Investing.com-- Tesla Inc’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) European sales nearly halved in April from last year, government data showed on Tuesday, as the electric vehicle maker struggles with an ageing lineup and a sales boycott linked to CEO Elon Musk. 

Tesla’s new car registrations in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, and the UK, slid 49% year-on-year to 7,261 units in April from 14,228 units a year ago, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association ( ACEA (BIT:ACE)) showed. 

Tesla’s market share also nearly halved to 0.7% from 1.3% a year ago. 

The drop came even as overall battery EV sales continued to expand in Europe, growing 34.1% y-o-y to 145,341 new registrations in April. Overall European new car registrations shrank marginally to 1.07 million units from 1.08 million units. 

Tesla is struggling with increased competition for an aging lineup from several established European automakers, who have also begun offering their own EVs. Chinese EV exports to Europe have also picked up in recent months, despite increased import tariffs on the sector. 

A recent report showed China’s BYD (SZ:002594) overtook Tesla in EV sales in Europe for the first time in April. 

Tesla is moving to update several of its popular models- chiefly the best-selling Model Y– to keep up with increased competition from China. EV sales were also seen petering off in recent years as cost conscious customers moved towards hybrids as a more practical alternative. 

A persistent decline in European sales also indicated that a Tesla boycott, centered around CEO Elon Musk and his political affiliations, showed little signs of easing in the region. Ire over Musk had sparked protests at several Tesla facilities in Europe and the U.S., and had also sparked instances of vandalism and arson.

Musk had said recently that Tesla’s sales were recovering in regions outside Europe. But the company also faces bitter competition in top EV market China, amid an ongoing price war in the country.