The sales of Tesla electric vehicles has slumped sharply again in the first month of 2025, with sales of the once market-leading Model 3 sedan falling more than 60 per cent below the same month last year.
Tesla has been the major player in the Australian EV market, with share sales consistently above 60 per cent over recent years, but that started to change in 2024 when its sales for the year slumped 17 per cent – a fall attributed to increased competition from Chinese EV makers, the expiry of state rebates, and the impact of Musk’s political actions.
That slump has continued into January. It is traditionally a slow month for the car maker – and the industry as a whole – but new data released by the Electric Vehicle Council show that Tesla’s overall EV sales fell 33.24 per cent to just 739 units.
The Model Y held up OK, increasing sales by 21 per cent over the same month a year earlier to 465. But the Model 3, despite the release of the “refreshed” Highland option, slumped 62 per cent to just 274 – a figure that a year ago would have not earned a place in the top five EVs in the country.
In 2023, Tesla achieved 2,927 sales in the month of January. In 2024, the sales tumbled more than two thirds, partly due to problems with shipping and other issues. Now they have fallen even further.
No one knows for sure the exact causes, but there is increasing evidence that the actions of Musk – who donated more than $A400 million into Donald Trump’s election campaign and who’s actions and hand gestures see him emerging as a type of “stormtrooper” for the re-elected president – is having an impact.
EV expert James Carter noted on LinkedIn this week two surveys that pointed to a 26 per cent fall in the value of the Tesla brand, blamed on Musk, and one from electrifying.com that found 59 per cent of current EV owners and potential buyers in the UK were deterred by Musk’s behavior and influence.
“Five years ago this may not have mattered as Tesla was far and away the best available EV on the market, which lead to Model Y becoming the world’s best selling vehicle,” Carter noted. “Outside of protected America and Canada, Chinese competition is VERY stiff, offering excellent alternatives to Tesla products.”
Bloomberg reports that in France, the European Union’s second-biggest market for battery-electric vehicles, Tesla EV sales plummeted 63 per cent. The manufacturer registered only 1,141 cars in January, the fewest since August 2022, according to French industry association La Plateforme Automobile.
Bloomberg notes French government ministers last month called for the European Commission to immediately suspend the regulation on CO2 emissions from passenger cars, warning that it could result in billions of euros going to Chinese manufacturers and Tesla, “whose CEO Elon Musk is openly attacking European regulations and values.”
It should be noted that overall EV sales in Australia are struggling, and this could be confirmed by the release of data from the main car peak group, the FCAI. The EVC data covers only EV-specialists Tesla and Polestar, who quit the FCAI last year over its position against the federal government’s emissions standards for cars.
The EVC data shows a sharp fall in the sales of Polestar too, although this is more readily explained by a shift in models.

Overall, Polestar sales are down to just 85 for the month, a fall of 45 per cent from the same month last year. The sales of Polestar 2 slumped to just 18 from 150 in January a year ago and a total of 1,450 for the whole of 2024.
On the brighter side, the newly released Polestar 4 registered 61 sales for the month of January. It sold 183 units in 2024 after entering the market in the last quarter of the year.
The higher priced and more luxurious Polestar 3, also released late last year, recorded just two sales for January. It sold 71 units in 2024. The FCAI data for the rest of the market is expectively to be released on Wednesday.
On a geographic basis, the EVC data shows sharp falls in the ACT (Australia’s strongest EV market), NSW and Queensland, and rises in the rest of the country. Sales in South Australia jumped three fold. No explanation was offered.
See The Driven’s month by month sales report for 2024.
See also:Â Norway EV share hits 96 pct in January, as Toyota tops list and Tesla slumps

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.