Tesla has been recording a decline in sales in Europe, the world’s second-largest electric vehicle market after China, for several months now, which many attribute to the political activity of its CEO Elon Musk, which not everyone likes. In April, according to official statistics, Tesla’s crisis, associated with falling sales on the European continent, worsened even more.
Image Source: Tesla
In April, four key European markets — France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland — saw double-digit sales declines, with only Norway showing some improvement. There is no sign yet that the restyled Model Y Juniper is reviving interest in Elon Musk’s brand on the continent, Fortune noted.
To be fair, in anticipation of the Model Y Juniper’s March launch, all four Tesla factories shut down Model Y assembly lines for retooling in February, which impacted the model’s availability and contributed to the company’s historically weak first-quarter results.
The Model Y midsize crossover has been the world’s best-selling car for two years running and accounts for about two-thirds of Tesla’s sales. So any interruption in its production has a significant impact on the company’s monthly sales figures.
In addition, Germany and the UK, respectively the largest and second largest car markets in Europe, as well as a number of other countries, have not yet published sales statistics. Therefore, Tesla’s figures may change.
Nevertheless, statistics indicate a clear crisis for the American brand: in France, Tesla sales fell by 59% to 863 electric vehicles per month, in Sweden by 81% to just 203 units, in the Netherlands by 74% to 382 units, and in Switzerland by 50% to 227 units. Only Norway showed growth – by 12% to 976 electric vehicles.