Elon Musk's Tesla sales tank across Europe; drop 59% in Germany. Here's why

Billionaire Founder and CEO Elon Musk's electric vehicle (EV) firm, Tesla Inc., sales across Europe dropped, indicating that the executive's political activities hurt the carmaker's business in the major EV market, reported the news agency, Bloomberg. 

Tesla's sales in Germany dropped 59 per cent, as the company registered only 1,277 new cars in January, according to German Federal Motor Transport Authority data cited in the agency report. The sales have hit their lowest level since July 2021.

Tesla is losing sales figures in a market that has gained 54 per cent in the last month. The agency report also cited a poll that showed that the CEO's views were unfavourable and his political interventions in the nation were not welcomed by the people.

Along with Germany, Tesla sales have also declined in France and UK last month, in addition to the latest development, this marks the company's drop in sale in the three largest EV markets in Europe. 

Tesla sales dropped 63 per cent in France last month, and the company also lost 12 per cent in the United Kingdom, according to the data cited by the news agency.

Musk's political presence

Elon Musk hosted a live discussion on his social media platform X with AfD leader Alice Weidel in an effort to give a platform to the party that’s opposed Tesla’s construction of a plant outside Berlin and taken a weak view of the renewable energy industry.

Musk referred to the wartime atrocities under the Nazis and discouraged the nation from putting “too much focus on past guilt” ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, sparking an outrage in the country, according to the agency report.

Political factors aside, the company made a weak start this year as Tesla was making changes in the assembly plants to manufacture a redesigned version of the Model Y, which lost the several weeks of production, as per the report.

After beating the estimate for the fourth quarter deliveries, the company fell sort of the slight growth forecast for the full year, according to the agency report.

Volkswagen AG and BMW AG were among the manufacturers that gained share in Germany’s EV market last year, while Tesla lost its hold, according to the report.

Tesla Inc. shares closed 3.58 per cent lower at ₹378.17 after Wednesday's market session. The shares were trading 1.62 per cent lower in the pre-market session, ahead of Thursday's market open.