FILE PHOTO: Tesla
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ANNEGRET HILSE
Tesla Inc. registered only 863 new vehicles in France last month, its lowest total in more than two years, even as the carmaker ramped up production of its most popular model.
The automaker’s sales plunged 59 per cent in April, according to French industry association Plateforme Automobile. Tesla’s registrations in the European Union’s second-biggest electric vehicle market have fallen 44 per cent through the first four months of the year.
Tesla started delivering its redesigned Model Y sport utility vehicle to European customers in early March after changing over production lines at assembly plants around the globe, including in Germany. That transition cost the company several weeks of output and contributed to its worst quarterly sales since 2022.
The poor performance reinforces concern about Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk alienating would-be customers in Europe by way of his work for US President Donald Trump. The Tesla CEO has been a top adviser for an administration waging a global trade war and rethinking alliances including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Musk himself has called for the US to pull out of NATO and stop funding European defense.
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Published on May 1, 2025
