Business

Tesla Europe Sales Slide Shows Signs of Reversing
By Reuters | 02 Mar, 2026

The release of cheaper EV models at the end of 2025 appears to be strengthening Tesla's competitive position against an influx of Chinese, Korean and Eropean EVs.

Tesla gained market share in key European markets in February, official data showed, signalling some stabilisation on the continent after two straight years of declining sales.

In France, the U.S. electric vehicle maker's registrations, a proxy for sales, rose 55% even as most rivals sold fewer cars in the country than a year ago.

Registrations more than doubled from February 2024 in Portugal. They increased 74% in Spain, 32% in Norway and 14% in Belgium, but fell 45% in the Netherlands, 18% in Denmark and 7% in Italy.

The UK and Germany, Europe's largest car markets, are set to report later in the week.

Tesla's European sales fell 27% last year amid rising competition, particularly from Chinese EV brands, controversy over Elon Musk's politics and an ageing model lineup.

Last year, Tesla unveiled cheaper versions of its Model Y and Model 3 in the U.S. and Europe, which started to roll out to consumers late last year.

The company's market share in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association slid marginally to 0.8% in January from 1% in the same month in 2025. 

That remains far below its 1.8% market share in 2025, 2.5% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2023, when its signature Model Y SUV was the world's best-selling model.

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, Camille Raynaud, Anna Ringstrom, Marie Mannes and Javi West Larrañaga; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and David Gregorio)