While billionaire CEO Elon Musk has been busy quickly infiltrating every corner of the U.S. government, Tesla profits have been plummeting.
Musk’s increased visibility and connection to the Trump administration has been a popularity test that he seems to have failed — at least in Europe. The electric car company sold nearly 60% fewer cars in Germany last month than it did in the previous January.
On Wednesday, the German Federal Motor Transport Authority reported that the number of newly registered Tesla vehicles dropped 59.5% in January, while the overall German market was only down 2.8% during the same period, Reuters reports.
This drastic drop in sales comes during the same month when Musk criticized Germans for having “too much of a focus on past guilt” for crimes Nazis committed during the Holocaust and urged people to vote for a hard-right nationalist party during Germany’s general election, according to the New York Times.
Despite Germany being home to Tesla’s only factory in Europe, only 1,277 new Teslas were registered last month. Instead, Germans were buying domestic and Chinese electric cars, which increased by 54% in demand in January.
But it wasn’t just Germany where Tesla sales are taking a nosedive, sales also plummeted 63% in France and 12% in Britain, where Musk has made inflammatory comments about Prime Minister Keir Starker.
Car registration data earlier this month shows that registered Teslas were down 44% in Sweden — where Tesla mechanics have been striking for more than a year now — and 38% in Norway.
According to the New York Times, a report by Schmidt Automotive Research linked the drop in sales in Germany to incendiary comments Musk made while speaking at a gathering of the ultra-conservative Alternative for Germany party just days before the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the gesture Musk at Trump’s inauguration celebration, which most people agree was a Nazi salute.
There could be reasons for dwindling Tesla purchases other than Musk being embroiled in controversy, including that consumers may be waiting for the updated Model Y to make their purchase.
In the U.S., where Musk has had increased visibility this year as he inserts himself into the American government and the Trump administration, there has also been a drop off in sales, though it hasn’t been as drastic as in Europe. According to the California New Car Dealers Association, registrations of new Teslas in the state plummeted by 11.6% in 2024 despite the overall sale of electric cars and trucks increasing by 1.2%.
