American carmaker Tesla is now suffering at the hands of a global rebuke of its CEO’s politics, with sales plunging once again across Europe during the month of April.
Each national dataset is telling a similar story: Consumers have had enough of Elon Musk’s politics and those of the US President Donald Trump, whom Musk spent $US290 million to usher into office. The wait and the retooling for the refreshed Model Y only tells part of the story.
In Sweden, Tesla’s new car sales dropped off a cliff again in April, down 80.7 per cent from the same month a year ago to their lowest levels since October 2022. Sales in the Netherlands for April were down 73.8 per cent, in Denmark by 67.2 per cent, down 59.4 per cent in France, and down 33 per cent in Portugal.
In Norway, where Tesla has been particularly dominant thanks to the country’s pro-EV policies, sales dropped over 55 per cent from the previous month, and were down 31 per cent from the same month a year earlier.
And this was despite fully electric vehicles accounting for 97 per cent of all new car sales in Norway for the month of April.
According to Reuters, even as sales of fully electric cars rose 28 per cent across “much of Europe” over the first quarter, Tesla’s sales fell by 37.2 per cent.
Tesla has also suffered in Australia, with sales down 75 per cent for April.
Unsurprisingly, these national statistics were reflected in Tesla’s own financials, with the company reporting in the back half of April that it had suffered a 71 per cent fall in first quarter net income, compared to the same period a year earlier.
During the earnings call, Musk told investors that he intended to dedicate more time to Tesla and would only spend a day or two a week working for the Trump administration. He admitted for the first time that EV sales had been impacted by the response to his role with Trump, although he insisted it was essential for the future of the country.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.