Edited by pengecattaik at 5-3-2025 06:35 PM
The plunge in Tesla electric vehicle sales has continued into February, according to the latest official data, with combined sales of the Model Y and Model 3 EVs plunging 71.9 per cent in the month of February, compared to the same month a year earlier.
The data from the Electric Vehicle Council shows that Tesla recorded just 1,592 EV sales in February, down from 5,665 for February last year. For the first two months of the year, sales have slumped 66 per cent to 2,331 from 6,772 in 2024.
Tesla supporters insist the sales plunge – which is also intense in European countries – is only the result of inventory levels and customers waiting for refreshed Model Y, and some increased competition.
But most analysts and observers also point to the influence that CEO Elon Musk is having on the market because of his partnership with US president Donald Trump and his open support for far right political causes.
It could also be that the Model 3 is simply past its use-by date, particularly with the arrival of competition from China – such as the BYD Seal.
Sales of Tesla vehicles continued to fall in February, across Scandinavia and in France, eroding its market share in markets that are otherwise showing continued strong electric vehicle (EV) growth.
New car sales numbers were published for a number of European countries on Monday, including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and France, and the same story was painted across each of the new datasets.
In Norway, where the share of EVs in February new car sales hit 94.7 per cent, new figures from the Opplysningsrådet for veitrafikken (OFV),
Norway’s Road Traffic Information Council, showed that the number of Tesla registrations has halved compared to February 2024, and are down 44.4 per cent across the first two months of the year.
These numbers continue to demonstrate both the continuing evolution and popularity of EVs in Europe – which either dominate some countries’ new car market or continue to show growth and steady numbers – as well as the more recent trend of Tesla’s declining influence, which many attribute to its CEO Elon Musk’s antics in US politics.
While there are those who continue to claim that these Tesla numbers represent only a momentary dip due to inventory levels and anticipation for the refreshed Model Y, these explanations are quickly beginning to sour.
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