Tesla's electric vehicles have faced a drop in sales in various European markets following the increased political involvement of the company's billionaire founder, Elon Musk, earning him backlash from consumers.
In January of 2025, only 1,277 new Teslas were registered in Germany, according to the German Federal Motor Transport Authority. This marks a 59.5% drop in sales from January of 2024. However, the German EV market has grown over 50% year after year. As a result, Tesla's market share dropped from 14% to 4% in the country containing the company's only European manufacturing plant, reported Financial Times.
Tesla owners in Germany are reportedly attempting to distance themselves from Musk as much as possible, with one artist and designer becoming overwhelmed with orders for a bumper sticker he created reading, "I bought this before Elon went crazy." The designer, who is from the south-west state of Baden-Württemberg, said he received 2,000 orders for the sticker in one weekend.
Furthermore, sales of Tesla's EVs dropped by 63% in France in the month of January. Registrations of Tesla EVs fell by 38% in Norway, and by 8% from the preceding year in the UK.
While demand for electric vehicles suffered a blow in France and Germany due to the removal of government subsidies, it has slowly begun to grow back.
Musk unexpectedly involved himself in German politics last year, becoming a supporter of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He hosted a 75-minute discussion with Alice Weidel, the party's leader, on X, resulting in pushback from German members of government and citizens.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his main rival, Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz, have both criticized the billionaire for supporting AfD, a party that advocates for the mass deportations of migrants, often uses Nazi-era adjacent slogans and is partially classified as extremist by Germany's own domestic intelligence agency.
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