Summary

Tesla’s European sales are plummeting, with Germany seeing a 60% drop despite strong EV growth. Similar declines hit Norway, Sweden, and France.

While some blame the Osborne effect—buyers delaying purchases for a refreshed Model Y—Musk’s endorsement of Germany’s far-right AfD may also be repelling customers.

Online backlash has linked Tesla to fascist imagery. In contrast, UK sales fell only 7.8%, suggesting political factors play a role.

With strong domestic EV competition in Europe, Tesla’s reputation crisis could further hurt demand.

  • @fuck_u_spez_in_particular
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    222 minutes ago

    Not sure if it’s just the promotion of the far-right parties.

    For me at the latest after his “Heil Hitler” salute I’d be completely ashamed driving that car.

    Might be interesting to see the exact daily timeline of the sales, if it collapsed after the 20th january.

  • @wabafee
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    126 minutes ago

    Swatzicar!!!

    • PonyOfWar
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      439 minutes ago

      And make Tesla more money by selling replacement windows? Nah. If you need to let out your anger on random people’s cars, buy some “Fuck Elon” stickers and stick those on the back.

  • bean
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    96 hours ago

    Fuck around and find out is his new M.O.

  • @[email protected]
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    8 hours ago

    Oo I hope this starts a wave of catchy mockery towards everything he touches and everything like him, like:

    Go fash, stonks crash.

  • @[email protected]
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    5 hours ago

    Having lived in a couple of countries in Europe, including a decade in Britain, I would say the UK is one of the most Fascist countries in Europe (for example having a citizen surveillance system even more extreme than the US and Press censorship in the form of D-Noticies), though elites there are extremelly good at being subtle and posh about it so the will keep up appearences: you won’t see goose stepping on the streets but for example in peaceful demonstrations the police will charge the crowd and News will report that - by showing the footage in the inverse order - as people first charging the police who then responded to it and you won’t see an overt Secret Police but once in a while out pops a leak of a special group within the normal police infiltrated Ecologist groups with undercover police officers (which came out because some female Ecologists ended up pregnant) or how their surveillance organisation kept Greenparty leaders under surveillance.

    Back during the Nazi times the British elites were even pro-Nazi (there’s a picture of Queen Elizabeth as a child being taught by her uncle - then King - to do a Nazi salute) and it was only the Nazi invasion of Belgium that changed their minds, so geopolitics rather than a dislike of the Nazi ideology of ethnic superiority (notice how over the years British elites kept supporting white colonialism and their violence, from Appartheid South Africa to Genocide Israel). More in general, the elites over there (which are overwhelmingly dynastic in nature, and I don’t mean just the Royal Family) are strong believers in their own inherent superiority over others as justification for their wealth, so the whole ubermenschen and untermenschen thinking applied along class lines rather than just races (but races too: Brits tend to believe themselves superior to just about all foreigners but Americans and for example some of the most celebrated heroes of Britain - such as Churchill - actually ordered the execution of Genocides in the British Empire possessions).

    All this to say that to me, having lived over there for a decade, the British’s minimal response to Fascism compared to the rest of Europe isn’t surprising - they live in a Society than in many ways runs along similar molds, harbours similar ideations about the inherent worth of people and is (including the Press) controled by elites who mostly are the same families that supported Nazism before Hitler invaded Belgium.

    • @Deway
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      21 hour ago

      Most of Europe was okayish with the Nazi to be fair. We would evn turn away Jewish refugees before the war. Let’s be clear that WW2 didn’t happen because of the Genocides but only because of the invasions of other countries. The UK is not special in that regard.

      • @[email protected]
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        40 minutes ago

        My impression from living there is that the UK never ditched the mindset that some people are born inherently superior to others, and that’s both for different parts of British society along the axis of class (and in many cases also the different nations of the UK, with the English often seeing themselves as superior) and towards foreigners (Brexit did not happen in a vacuum).

        I have the theory that is because the UK never really had a Revolution started from below (the closest they had were the Barons rebeling against the King leading to the Magna Carta or the Catholic-vs-Protestant fighting which was mainly different factions of the elites re-approportioning power) or Occupation by a foreign power that crushed the existing elites and loosened their power over the entire system, hence the established elites never really changed and thus the power structures in Britain, who those structures serve and who controls them, has changed a lot less over the last couple of centuries than elsewhere in Europe.

        They’re not as much Fascists in a traditional sense but more a continuation of a Monarchic semi-Autocratic system were the power of the King was weakenned centuries ago and divided amongst the rest of the Landowner Class and later the Trading Burgeoisie without really reaching the lower classes in full (the closest to it ever happenning was post-War Britain and that has been reverted in the last 4 decades).

        Fascism in Europe one of the reactions to Republicanism, but the UK never had a Republican phase and so a lot of the ideas on power and the worth of people in Fascism which are really just re-hashed monarchic thinking on who are the proper rulers and justifying it are still present in the British system in their natural (though more sophisticated in means and appearence) form.

        All this to say that, yeah, I agree with you, it’s just that I don’t think their love for the Nazi ideology back then was quite driven by the same reasons as many other countries in Europe (though remember how even in Germany the Nazis had some support from the Monarchics) and that whilst elsewhere in Europe the elites that held such thinking were dethroned, in Britain they held on to power to the present day.

  • @[email protected]
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    4117 hours ago

    Musk’s clown car of leadership finally careens into reality. When your CEO’s political acumen involves cosplaying as a far-right edgelord, even Europe’s EV adopters—historically tolerant of overpriced gadgets—start side-eyeing the brand. Tesla’s not a car company anymore; it’s a vanity project for a man who thinks “free speech” means platforming Nazis.

    Meanwhile, European automakers are quietly eating Tesla’s lunch with actual innovation, not just empty hype. Musk’s fanbase? A shrinking cult of tech bros and crypto gamblers. The rest of us? We’ve moved on to cars that don’t come with a side of embarrassing billionaire tantrums.

    Democracy’s broken? Sure. But watching Musk torch his own empire? Chef’s kiss.

    • @WhiskyTangoFoxtrot
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      712 hours ago

      What’s the difference between someone cosplaying as a far-right edgelord and an actual far-right edgelord?

      • @[email protected]
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        99 hours ago

        The difference? One is a poser draped in the aesthetics of reactionary outrage to court attention and controversy, while the other is fully marinated in the ideology, living and breathing it. The former plays dress-up for clout; the latter believes the costume is their skin.

        But let’s not split hairs—both are toxic. Whether it’s cosplay or conviction, the result is the same: amplifying regressive garbage under the guise of “provocation.” One just happens to be better at monetizing it.

        • @[email protected]
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          11 hour ago

          I have yet to find someone who is truly just “Posing” with this shit and not just using “its a joke, bro” to claim not following that ideology. If they didnt at first, they developed that ideology quickly.

    • @[email protected]
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      20 hours ago

      Dude every single time one of my uber/lyft drivers picks me up in a Tesla, I alwats have some kind of issue. The door handles fail to extend to let me get in (what problem was this design even solving?), when I’m inside the way to open the door is so counter-intuitive even after doing it a few times it still takes me way too long to get it open (dumbest design ever…it’s just a button?), the seatbelt buckle doesn’t click, etc… Cheap fuckin construction.

      Just terrible, stupid, designs. Add in the fascist bullshit? Fucking forget it. This asshole is ruining a good chance to cut down on emissions by being the face of EVs

      • AbsentBird
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        1419 hours ago

        The door handles were supposed to be more aerodynamic, but other manufacturers have solved the issue more elegantly.

          • @[email protected]
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            146 minutes ago

            Not that much, but definitely measurable. A Tesla competitor did some tests and they got a 1% range increase.

            Replacing side mirrors with cameras also has a similar impact, but costs like 3.000 euros as an option.

            So your choice of wheels has a bigger impact, but it’s not totally pointless. And cheap to do.

          • @[email protected]
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            414 hours ago

            Traditional door handles actually reduce smug flow by 60% - the Tesla door handles produce a much more smugrodynamic profile.

      • @[email protected]
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        1019 hours ago

        The door handles are just fucking dumb… and on the inside the door release is a… button? Why?

        • @[email protected]
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          142 minutes ago

          To give the car time to lower the window a few millimeters and avoid damaging the seal. Plus someone probably thought it would look cool or something. There’s a manual release in case the car loses power, or something breaks.

          It’s not unique to Teslas either, a few other cars have done the same thing.

        • Flying Squid
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          67 hours ago

          A button which requires the car’s power to be working.

          Don’t worry, there is an emergency release! It takes a little while to get to, so I hope the burning Tesla you’re trapped inside doesn’t burn too quickly.

          • ⛓️‍💥
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            241 minutes ago

            “Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I will move the earth” - 287-212 BC

            “Just give me a damn lever” - 2025

  • @[email protected]
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    6423 hours ago

    It is fascinating how little this correlates to the Tesla stock price. It has dropped a bit, down 8.4% in the last month, but it still up 80.8% over the last 6 months. I´m curious what kind of business model the shareholders is expecting from Tesla that does not involve selling cars.

    • @[email protected]
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      258 minutes ago

      I imagine that the federal government will be buying Teslas by the shipload

      The army will be replacing humvees with cybertrucks.

      Tesla will announce a CyberTank to replace the M1

      i’m only sort of joking

    • @[email protected]
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      2616 hours ago

      Judging on the fact that it jumped up after election day, investors are expecting corporate nepotism to boost profits.

    • @[email protected]
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      1116 hours ago

      The share price isn’t based on car sales. If it were just about car sales, it would be about 10% of the price it is now.

      The share price is mostly ridiculous, but it is also people trying to get in early, on the assumption that they solve FSD, battery storage, Optimus (their robot), and battery manufacturing.

      If they solve all of this, then Tesla could 10x again. It’s very future dependent, and I think that future is a lot longer away than a lot of other shareholders think.

      I got in at ~$20 per share. I’ve significantly reduced my position over the last few months, but I do still believe in the original mission of Tesla. I just don’t think they’re going to get there with Elon.

      • @[email protected]
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        132 minutes ago

        IMHO only FSD is something they could potentially achieve, but it took them so long the competition is catching up. At least in Europe (where Teslas have barely functioning traffic sign recognition) other manufacturers have level 3 ADAS in production. Like legally certified and everything.

        Their batteries ( both mobile and grid storage) are nothing special, the 4680 is MiA, catl and BYD have bigger market shares already, I don’t know about Panasonic and other manufacturers, could be too.

        And the robot is vaporware unless proven otherwise.

        I’m not a gambler so I won’t short it (Elon can give himself trillions in government assistance now), but sure as hell wouldn’t hold it anymore.

      • @suigenerix
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        916 hours ago

        In the short term, the market is a voting machine, but in the long term, it is a weighing machine” - Benjamin Graham (“father” of value investing and mentor to Warren Buffett)

        Meaning that in the short term, stock prices can be swayed from a company’s true value by investors’ emotions and opinions.

        But eventually the stock price will align with the company’s actual profitability and growth potential.

        And you’re right that these are crazy times, and the “short term” irrationality can last a lot longer than past experiences.

        Historically, we’ve used examples like the 17th century tulip mania, or the dot com boom, but it won’t surprise me if Tesla becomes the poster child for this quote in the future.

    • @chilicheeselies
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      1522 hours ago

      My understanding ia that they get carbon credits for producing EVs which they then sell to carbon producers to offset. They also produce batteries.

      That being said, its not going to take a deep dive unless they have consecutive missed eps targets. Even then though, part of Elons MO is to promose some visonary tech that takes year to peoduce so just sitbtight man becauae im telling you its coming…

      This time around its robots for the home. Laughable not because we dont have the technology, but who has the disposable income to afford it? Even if they come out, and it turns out people buy them (which also means not heing turned off by musk); where is the moat? What stops a competitor like boston dynamics, samsung, etc from seeing it as validation of a market and then entering it?

    • @Strider
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      22 hours ago

      In my opinion this shows how fucking unrelated the whole financial sector is to reality.

      It should be shut down or unrelated to the real world.

  • @[email protected]
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    1921 hours ago

    When it comes to EVs, the US is on the wrong side of history. Tesla may be there, but the US main export is oil and has been for at least 15 years.

    Tesla is valuable because they’re looking to put taxi drivers out of a job forever.

    China on the other hand has hardly any oil. Same with most of Europe. On this issue at least, we should be allies.

    Between them the US, Russia and Saudi Arabia will still boil the Earth, but at least we won’t be fuelling their war machines while they do.

  • @[email protected]
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    22 hours ago

    He’ll make the world’s first reverse class action lawsuit accusing everyone who hasn’t bought a Tesla of boycott

    • @[email protected]
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      420 hours ago

      Boycotts by individuals are legal.

      What he was complaining about before was that competing companies were colluding to limit demand for a supplier’s product. That might run into antitrust law. But antitrust law doesn’t govern the buying decisions of individuals.

  • @Kyrgizion
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    3223 hours ago

    Two of my coworkers were the biggest Elon fanboys and were the first in the office to drive Teslas. That was years ago though. I hear a lot less from them now. I wonder why…

    • @[email protected]
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      227 minutes ago

      I’m probably not your coworker, but it was the case with me. I liked the guy when he was a weird nerd and I liked the car.

      I still like the car to be honest but I’m seriously considering buying a bumper sticker with “I bought this before I knew he was a Nazi”.

      No way I’m buying another one as long and he’s related to the company in any way.

    • @krimson
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      3223 hours ago

      I’d be bloody embarrassed if I drove one.

      • @bitchkat
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        619 hours ago

        The Rivian R3X can’t come soon enough.

  • Laser
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    2523 hours ago

    Can we send another tesla to space with the musk rat tied to it?

    • Flying Squid
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      2623 hours ago

      I always like to point out that Mr. “We Must Colonize Mars” is too chickenshit to get on one of his own rockets. Even motherfucking Bezos had enough balls to do that.

      • @Zahille7
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        1123 hours ago

        Not even just him, but a whole group of other rich people and celebrities.

    • Chainweasel
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      318 hours ago

      Strap him to the heatsheild on the next starship flight.

    • qprimed
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      16 hours ago

      still too close. send the sob on a Voyager parts replacement mission.

      nevermind. thats probably one more step on the path to v’ger.

  • Ziggurat
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    321 hours ago

    I would also not under estimate that in comparison to let’s say 5 years ago. Now every car maker and their dog has a decent E-car (and sometimes a lot of different ones) so Tesla hasn’t a monopoly anymore