Elon Musk can boast all he wants to support Tesla's stock price, but facts are stubborn things. During an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, the billionaire denied the evidence that the automaker had been experiencing disappointing sales lately—despite a 13% global decline in the first quarter. He nevertheless assured that Tesla had "turned the ship around."
Elon Musk's political stances are weighing Tesla down in Europe
He did, however, acknowledge that Europe was the company's "weakest" market. That's an understatement. In April, figures from JATO Dynamics indicate that Tesla sold 7,165 vehicles on the old continent, compared to 7,230 fully electric vehicles at BYD. This is the first time that the Chinese giant has overtaken the American all-electric specialist.
Taking its hybrid models into account, BYD sold a total of 12,525 vehicles in the month, an increase of 169% compared to April 2024. Tesla, for its part, suffered a decline of almost 50% year-on-year. This underperformance is all the more worrying given that, according to Dataforce, sales of all-electric vehicles (BEVs) have increased by 28% in a market for all engines that is practically stable (-0.3%).
In other words, Tesla is not benefiting at all from the enthusiasm of European motorists for BEVs. Worse still: the brand has become a deterrent. The launch of the new design of the Model Y, which was supposed to revive the machine, has done nothing to change this. The blame lies with Elon Musk and his political antics as Donald Trump's top advisor and a public (and vocal) supporter of far-right movements in Europe.
For the remaining engines, plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) grew by 12% and conventional hybrids by 16%, while sales of non-hybrid gasoline vehicles fell by 7.2% and diesels by 19%.
Beyond BYD, all Chinese manufacturers are benefiting from the electric wave in Europe: 5,773 sales (compared to only 462 in April 2024) for Cherry, a 25% increase for SAIC, and 1,665 sales for Xpeng (+270%). BYD intends to strengthen its position with the expected launch of the Dolphin Surf, the European version of the Seagull. This model will be available from €23,000.
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