Early car sales data for January is starting to arrive from countries across the pond, and they paint an alarming picture for Tesla. Sales are crashing in France, Germany, and the UK—all affluent countries that are key markets for Tesla’s electric vehicles. Coming on the heels of a large financial miss, it’s just one more problem for the automaker.
Tesla sales dropped around 13 percent across Europe in 2024, but so far this year, the scale of the problem is far greater. In France, sales of new Teslas fell by 63 percent, while total car sales in the country fell by just 6 percent, with EV sales dropping just half a percent.
Germany was already looking like lost ground for Tesla—its 41 percent drop in 2024 accounted for most of Tesla’s lost sales across Europe. That must make the 59 percent drop in German Tesla sales recorded during January even more painful on the profit and loss statements.
Across the Channel, the British auto industry just released its sales data for January. Here, Tesla sales fell less precipitously—just 12 percent. However, battery EV sales were 35 percent higher in the UK in January 2025 than in January 2024. The cake is growing, but Tesla is getting to eat less and less of it.
In fact, no Tesla cracked the UK’s top 10 best-seller list last month, something that has regularly happened in the past, although that may be due to having just two models for >sale in most markets.
Large declines have also been recorded in Sweden (44 percent), Norway (38 percent), and the Netherlands (42 percent).
I used to have a proton jumbuck, really useful little pickup. But they’re hard to find in the UK and getting parts can be tricky.
Yeah, easy access to parts is pretty important.
…I had to look it up, it looks like one of the guys who worked on the design of the El Camino smooth talked someone in C-Suite that it was their own idea that releasing one that was modernised would sell super well. That might sound like I’m taking potshots, but I love the El Camino and I would buy a Jumbuck in a heartbeat.
Yeah, el Caminos look proper cool. TBH I thought my jumbuck looked pretty cool too. And it was really useful, at the time I was hauling a lot of wood and it drove just fine with a heavy load. I think it was maybe a 1.2 petrol engine iirc. They are pretty cheap if you can find them, I sold mine with 6 months MOT for about £500 . But yeah, parts are tricky, which isn’t great with a work vehicle