Automotive associations across Europe have been publishing their monthly sales figures for May this week, and it’s a complicated story for Tesla, which only saw a silver lining in Norway, where the Model Y cemented its return to the top of the pile as the country’s most popular car.
Norway is a fascinating market because it has the highest penetration of EVs in the world, with a market share of 93.9 per cent of all new car sales in May, and 92.7 per cent for the first five months of 2025 – up from 87 per cent for the same period a year earlier.
The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car in May, selling 2,346 units and accounting for 16.5 per cent of all new car sales in the country for the month, according to the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV).
Including all Tesla models, the company saw unit sales of 2,600, an 18.2 per cent share of the country’s new car market.
However, that’s where the good news ends for Tesla, with its sales numbers continuing to crater across the rest of Europe when compared to the same month a year earlier.
In neighbouring Sweden, Tesla new car sales dropped 53.7 per cent, selling only 503 cars, down 53.7 per cent from the 1,086 sold in May of 2024. In Denmark, Tesla sales were down 30.5 per cent. In the Netherlands, down 36 per cent. Sales of Tesla were also down 67 per cent in France and 68 per cent in Portugal.
Things were not quite so dire for Tesla in Spain, where sales only dropped by 19 per cent to 794 cars sold for the month of May, according to ANFAC. However, this was in the face of a 91.1 per cent increase in the sale of all EVs for the month of May, totalling 9,914 units for the month, accounting for 7.43 per cent of the total.
EVs accounted for 37 per cent of new car sales in Sweden, 61 per cent in Denmark, and 20.2 per cent in Portugal.
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.