For years, Tesla has been the darling of the automotive industry. This brand has been the envy of practically every other car company around the world because of its trendiness, cutting-edge technology, and absurdly high stock price. But not anymore. In recent months, Tesla’s sales have been declining at a shocking pace, particularly in Europe, leaving other automakers as EV leaders.
A Slippery Sales Slope
In February, Tesla’s electric vehicle deliveries in the Old World fell behind rival automakers, including some legacy brands. According to Reuters, Volkswagen, the BMW Group, and even a few Chinese upstarts are selling more EVs in Europe than Tesla.
How steep has this decline been? Precipitous. On average, the American automaker’s year-over-year sales declined by 44 percent in the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK. Overall in this region, Tesla delivered fewer than 16,000 vehicles in February. As for market share, the brand’s has dipped to 9.6 percent, the lowest it’s been for this month in five years.
In comparison, rival companies are seeing their sales boom. Deliveries of Volkswagen electric vehicles increased by 180 percent to nearly 20,000 units. Similarly, the BMW Group, which includes Mini, saw its deliveries climb to just shy of 19,000 vehicles.
EVs from Chinese brands are also doing extremely well in Europe, with their combined sales eclipsing Tesla’s. BYD’s deliveries were up 94 percent to more than 4,000 units. Likewise, Polestar, which is owned by Geely, pushed out in excess of 2,000 electric vehicles last month. Xpeng and Leapmotor also delivered around 1,000 and nearly 900 vehicles each, respectively.
There’s Trouble In The U.S., Too
But it’s not just Europe, Tesla is facing significant headwinds in China, and even its home market of the U.S. January deliveries slumped 11 percent in America, though the automaker is still the dominant EV manufacturer accounting for around 42 percent of sales.
CEO Elon Musk’s dramatic political shift to the right has alienated many Tesla fans. Also, his controversial gestures at President Trump’s inauguration turned many drivers off, as has the executive’s work with the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE for short.
Thanks to these reasons, and more, people are pushing back against Tesla around the world, protesting at dealerships, and, unfortunately, vandalizing these retail locations and even Tesla vehicles (seriously, don’t do this). Public outcry – and declining sales – have impacted the automaker’s stock price, which has fallen about 40 percent over the last three months.
Where this trendsetting electric vehicle manufacturer goes in the future remains to be seen. Recent political issues have certainly dented Tesla’s global sales, but so has increased competition. Just a few years ago, this was the go-to company if you wanted a solid all-electric vehicle, but that’s no longer the case. Hordes of other automakers build excellent EVs, competition that has also dented Tesla’s lead.
Read the full article here