In Europe, Tesla sales are growing despite opinions about Elon Musk
Europeans seem to have gotten over their antipathy towards Elon Musk.
A year ago, Tesla’s sales in Europe were in freefall after Mr Musk, the carmaker’s chief executive, appeared to have put off car buyers with his vocal support for right-wing politicians in Britain and Europe and his role as President Trump’s cost-cutting czar.
But in recent months, Tesla’s sales in Europe have rebounded amid a broader surge in sales of electric vehicles, which now account for more than a fifth of new car purchases on the continent.
Sales of Tesla vehicles rose 77 percent from January to May compared with the previous year, the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers said this week. In May, Tesla sold 22,000 cars in Europe. That’s more than Ford, Nissan or Honda, even if we include their fossil fuel models.
Many people seem to have put their personal feelings about Mr Musk aside after Tesla cut the prices of its entry-level models to levels that are competitive with comparable petrol or diesel vehicles and cheap cars from China. In some countries, Tesla Model Y SUVs can be leased for less than 300 euros, or about $340, per month.
“Once you go down the price ladder, people pay less attention to ethics or morality,” said Matthias Schmidt, an independent analyst in Berlin who tracks electric vehicle sales. “Tesla’s product has become so attractive in terms of price that it’s almost too good to turn down.”
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
When Mr. Musk became part of the Trump administration last year, Hansjoerg Quilitzsch, a former IBM employee who lives in southwest Germany, put a sticker on his Tesla Model Y that read: “I bought it before Elon went crazy.”
But Mr. Quilitzsch said he will lease a new Model Y when his current contract expires next year. He uses Tesla’s extensive charging network on the long drive to visit his daughter in Barcelona, he said, and believes the company’s technology is superior to other carmakers’ products.
“They’re five years ahead of everybody,” Mr. Quilitzsch said in a telephone interview.
Tesla’s recovery in Europe suggests the company could slow or even reverse the decline in its global car sales, which reached their highest annual level in 2023.
Tesla’s sales in the United States continue to decline after Congress last year eliminated tax credits that effectively increased the cost of electric models by $7,500. Research firm Cox Automotive estimates that Tesla sold 20 percent fewer cars in the United States in the second quarter of this year than a year earlier. The company is expected to report its global revenue for the quarter on July 2.
Mr Musk is still unpopular in Europe. And he continues to make statements on X, his social network, that contradict the beliefs of many environmentally conscious liberals, who are most likely to buy electric vehicles.
This week, for example, he claimed on X that the U.S. Agency for International Development, the foreign aid organization he dismantled last year when he ran the Department for Government Efficiency, was responsible for the Covid pandemic. This opinion is not shared by experts who studied the origin of the pandemic.
Mr Musk has defended himself against accusations that the cuts he oversaw led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children who no longer had access to vital medicines and health care funded by the US aid agency.
Geraldine Heaton, a retired pharmacist who lives in a Dublin suburb, said she felt “a certain shame about Tesla’s driving because of his DOGE involvement and his general world view”.
“But I love my Model 3 and that outweighs my dislike of this man,” she said.
Sean O’Connor, managing director of a creative design agency in Amsterdam, said he was reluctant to buy Tesla because of Mr Musk. But after test driving electric vehicles from five European brands, Mr O’Connor concluded that “the Model Y is head and shoulders above the rest”.
Many people have pointed out that Tesla is not the only car company with baggage. Henry Ford held and propagated anti-Semitic views. Volkswagen was founded by the Nazis. Chinese cars are produced with the support of an authoritarian government.
“I’m against China’s policy and I’d rather support a Western brand,” said Mantas Vrubliauskas, a resident of Riga, Latvia, who bought a Tesla Model 3 sedan in October, although he said he had a negative opinion of Mr. Musk.
Many have argued that for all of Mr. Musk’s right-wing rhetoric and penchant for conspiracy theories, his products are good for the environment.
Philipp Till, a doctor based in Salzburg, Austria, said Mr Musk’s right-wing views were “disgusting”, especially as a citizen of a country with a Nazi past.
But Mr. Till bought a used Tesla Model S for his long daily commute because “I had a bad conscience about burning a lot of diesel,” he said.
“His vision,” Mr. Till said of Mr. Musk, “has accelerated the transition to electric driving.”
There are signs that Tesla’s sales in Europe will continue to increase, analyst Mr. Schmidt said. The waiting time for a Tesla delivery has stretched to three months, according to data available on the company’s website, indicating that demand remains strong.
The company will also benefit from the widespread and growing interest in electric vehicles in Europe. Such models account for 20 percent of new car sales, compared to just 6 percent in the United States.
Mr. Schmidt expects the share of electric vehicles to rise to 25 percent by the end of the year, overtaking sales of cars that run solely on gasoline. Higher fuel prices caused by the war in Iran are only beginning to have an impact on sales numbers.
Tesla also benefits from a factory near Berlin that produces the Model Y.
The European Union imposes tariffs on cars imported from China based on how much government support the manufacturers are likely to receive. SAIC Motor, which sells cars under the MG brand, is subject to a 35 percent duty on top of the standard 10 percent import levy.
European production also allows Tesla to take advantage of government incentives for electric cars that are not available for imported cars. In France, Mr. Schmidt says the incentives help bring the Model Y’s lease payments down to €289 a month, with an upfront payment of €1,900.
This made the Model Y the best-selling electric vehicle in France, despite competition from new models such as the 5 hatchback from French automaker Renault.
Tesla is expanding production at its Berlin factory in another sign of strong demand.
Starting in July, the company will be able to produce 6,200 Model Y SUVs per week, up from 5,000 at the start of the year, Andre Thierig, senior director of production at the plant, said on LinkedIn. Later this year, the plant will expand further to be able to produce 7,500 vehicles a week, he said. Tesla is also expanding battery production in Berlin.
(Tesla Model 3 sedans sold in Europe are typically imported from the company’s Shanghai factory and are subject to a total tariff of 18 percent.)
Volkswagen and its brands Audi, Porsche, Škoda and SEAT together sell more electric cars in Europe than Tesla. But Tesla sits in second place, even though it only sells two models, the 3 and the Y.
Tesla has often been criticized for not offering more models. But its limited lineup has simplified production and is a big reason Tesla can sell cars for less than other automakers, Mr. Schmidt said.
Perhaps the clearest example of Tesla’s resilience is in Norway, a country where almost all new cars sold are electric and buyers are particularly savvy. There, Tesla is the biggest car seller with more than 20 percent of the market, nearly twice as much as No. 2 Toyota.
Vigdis Haugland Asbjornsen, president of the Tesla Owners Club Norway, said the company’s offer of loans with an interest rate of 2 percent helped sales. But it also has a reputation among Norwegians.
“You know someone with a Tesla,” she said by email, “and you learn that they love driving their car.”