As Elon Musk descends further into the swamp of the far right and plays a prominent role in dismantling the US government, Australians, Europeans and Americans are turning their backs on Tesla. And as political distaste becomes a rising factor in car selling, that will only accelerate this year.
Last year saw Tesla’s often-extraordinary growth in global sales — from fewer than 50,000 vehicles a decade ago to 1.7 million in 2023 — come to a juddering halt: sales fell 1% globally despite an 8.8% rise in sales in China. Sales in the US fell and Tesla had to cut production by 4%.
Last year also saw Chinese giant BYD, whose vehicles start at a fraction of the cost of Teslas and deliver comparable performance, move well past Tesla globally in electric vehicle (EV) production, even though it is being kept out of the US market and parts of Europe. And one of China’s major automobile manufacturers, Changan — which has an extensive range of EVs from a tiny two-seat budget model to a luxury SUV complete with a built-in massage system — is aiming to sell 100,000 EVs outside China this year (it is currently setting up in Australia).
However, 2025 is shaping up to be an even weaker year for Musk thanks to the Trump administration’s plans to kill off the US$7,500 consumer tax credit for EV purchases. US car dealers say that decision saw a rush for hybrid-powered vehicles (both regenerative like Toyota’s and plug-ins), but Tesla doesn’t make and sell hybrids of any type.
Data this week from the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries and the Electric Vehicle Council showed that while Tesla remained the top-selling EV brand in Australia last year, sales fell 16.9% to 38,347, which in turn saw market share drop from 53% in 2023 to 42%. That continued in January with the EVC saying Tesla sales fell 33% last month to 739 compared to 1,107 in January 2024, with the company’s popular Model 3 seeing a slump of 62% year on year.
Chinese-made EVs, led by BYD, are booming — despite the hysteria from Sinophobes in the media. In fact, BYD has ambitions to become a major Australian vehicle supplier, competing with the likes of Toyota.
It was a similar story in Europe, with sharp falls in Tesla sales reported for January for its two most advanced EV markets: Norway and Sweden. Reuters reported that “a total of 405 new Teslas were registered in Sweden last month, down 44% from January of 2024, while registrations in Norway fell to 689, a decline of 38% over the same period, despite soaring overall demand for cars in the two countries”. In fact, Norway is now classed as the first fully adapted car market in the world, with EVs accounting for 90% of sales in 2024 and forecast to go close to 100% this year.
The UK saw a similar slide in January, with Tesla sales falling 12% despite it being the best month on record for the EV market in the UK. A total of 1,416 Teslas were registered in January, a drop of 188 compared to the same time last year. Sales of battery electric vehicles in the UK rose overall by 35% to 27,677.
But the biggest shock in 2024 was the way Californians went off Musk and Tesla. California was where Tesla first started making vehicles (and batteries) and has long been the biggest market for Musk, but sales of Tesla’s Model 3 slumped by more than 30% in California last year, with the company notching up its fifth consecutive quarterly registration decline.
According to one analyst, “Tesla’s registrations fell 7.8% in Q4 2024, contributing to an overall 11.6% decline in 2024. The company’s market share also dropped by 7.6 points in 2024, now holding 52.5% of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) market for the year.” That saw Tesla’s share of California’s new car market last year fall to 11.6% from 13% the year before.
Musk and Tesla fled California in late 2024 (after years of threatening to do so) for Texas, a move that mirrors his political lurch to the extreme right of American politics. And the biggest beneficiary of Musk’s embrace of Trump, fascism and antisemitism is China.
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