The slump does not stop. Tesla sales in Europe slumped again in November 2025, confirming a negative trend that has been going on for more than a year.
Data reported by Reuters shows monthly registrations of Tesla automobiles—an accurate way of measuring sales—halved compared to the same month in 2024 in the continent’s main markets: -58 percent in France, -59 percent in Sweden, and -49 percent in Denmark. In Germany, where the Elon Musk-controlled automaker has its only European plant on the outskirts of Berlin, recorded just 750 vehicles sold in October, less than half the number sold a year earlier.
The big exception to this downward trend is in Norway, where registrations of Tesla cars nearly tripled to 6,215 units.
The numbers for the first 10 months of 2025 expose a structural crisis. Tesla lost about 30 percent of European sales compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, the body that groups the industry’s manufacturers on the Continent. Tesla’s market share in the electric car segment fell from 12.6 percent in May 2024 to 7.2 percent in May 2025, according to analysis by Schmidt Automotive.
Volkswagen took the lead among electric vehicle manufacturers by selling 133,465 units in the first six months of the year versus Tesla’s 108,878, and Chinese manufacturer BYD sold more than twice as many cars as its US rival in October.
Global Shockwaves
The reasons for the decline are many. Musk’s political stances have alienated a significant portion of his European customer base, particularly in Germany where the entrepreneur has publicly supported Alternative für Deutschland, Germany’s far-right party known as AfD. Musk’s virtual participation in an AfD election rally in January 2025, during which he called on Germans to overcome guilt over their Nazi past, triggered a wave of boycotts. German companies such as pharmacy chain Rossmann and energy group LichtBlick announced the divestment of their Tesla fleets, while in Poland, Sports Minister Slawomir Nitras called on citizens to boycott the brand.
Then there is the fact that competition has become increasingly fierce. More than 150 electric models produced by European, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese manufacturers are available on the European market. As Reuters again reports, a survey conducted by Escalent of more than 2,000 buyers in the five largest European car markets revealed that 38 percent of respondents believe that the Tesla brand has now lost its aura of novelty and quality.
Tesla registrations in Italy also fell for six consecutive months until October, the month in which it sold just 256 cars, 47 percent fewer than in the same month in 2024, according to data from Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. In the first 10 months of the year, 9,047 Tesla vehicles were registered in the country, a dip of 33 percent. The Italian figure is significant because in the first five months of 2025, the electric car segment in the country grew by 73 percent. The problem therefore does not concern the electric vehicle market, but Tesla itself.
Norwegian Reasons
In Norway, however, the data tell a different story. Tesla has sold more cars in the Scandinavian country in 2025 than any other manufacturer in national history, surpassing the previous record set by Volkswagen in 2016. As Reuters reports, data released on Monday, December 1 by the Norwegian Road Federation, the body that monitors Norwegian road traffic, show that Tesla registered 28,606 vehicles from January to November, marking a 34.6 percent increase over the same period in 2024. Tesla now holds 31.2 percent of the entire Norwegian car market.
The success is the result of very specific factors. Norway is the country with the highest penetration of electric vehicles in the world: in November, 97.6 percent of new registrations involved battery-powered cars. The record stems from an incentive system built over more than two decades that has made electric vehicles cheaper than conventional ones through a 25 percent VAT exemption for cars priced below 500,000 Norwegian kroner; that about 42,500 euros and $49,360.
The November surge, however, should also be read in light of an impending change. The Oslo government announced in the 2026 budget its intention to lower the tax-exemption threshold to 300,000 kroner starting next year—about 25,500 euros and $29,600—and then eliminate the benefit altogether in 2027. Norwegian consumers have therefore rushed to complete their purchases before the new rules come into effect.
This story was originally published by WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian.
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