Tesla sales sink again in France, Denmark amid anti-Musk protests

Tesla sales fell in France for a fourth straight month in April and also dropped in Denmark, data showed on Thursday (May 1), the latest sign Elon Musk’s EV brand continues to struggle as Europeans buy more Chinese cars and some protest against his political views.

In France, Tesla sales tumbled 59.4 per cent year on year to 863 vehicles last month, data from French car body PFA showed. That was a bigger fall than the 36 per cent drop in March.

Since the start of the year, Tesla’s sales have declined by 43.9 per cent in France in a market that has shrunk by 7.3 per cent.

In Denmark, Tesla’s new car sales fell 67.2 per cent year on year to 180 vehicles last month, registration data from Mobility Denmark showed. They dropped 65.6 per cent in March.

Tesla faces a number of challenges in Europe. It has a small, ageing lineup while traditional automaker rivals and new Chinese entrants are launching new and often cheaper EVs.

Musk’s embrace of far-right politics in Europe has also led to protests against the billionaire CEO and the company, as well as vandalism at its showrooms and charging stations across the US and Europe.

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Other European countries including Italy, Sweden and Norway will release April sales data on Friday. Tesla’s European sales dropped 28.2 per cent in March.

Investors will be watching the numbers closely to see if the sales rout has extended into the second quarter. Tesla’s first-quarter auto revenue slumped by a fifth, and net profit plunged 71 per cent, both missing Wall Street estimates.

Musk said last week he would cut back significantly on the time he devotes to the Trump administration and spend more time running Tesla.

Musk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has been working to eliminate wasteful US public spending through the Department of government Efficiency (DOGE).

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm on Thursday denied a Wall Street Journal report that said board members had reached out to executive search firms to find a replacement for Musk.

Total new car registrations in France fell 5.64 per cent in April from a year earlier to 138,694 vehicles, the data showed. REUTERS