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Tesla Blown Away as Renault Dominates Europe’s July EV Sales Party

46 points by Alupis 6y ago

clouddrover 6y ago
Right car for the right market for the right price. Tesla used to be the number 1 BEV maker in Europe but now they're number 3: https://www.schmidtmatthias.de/post/april-2020-european-electric-car-market-top-sellers https://www.schmidtmatthias.de/post/april-2020-european-elec... Hyundai will become number 3 as they start to release their Hyundai and Kia BEVs in greater volumes. Volkswagen with its multiple brands (VW, Audi, Porsche, SEAT, Skoda, etc.) is now the biggest BEV maker in Europe. Even the VW e-Golf still does well: https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html VW's BEV lead will be strengthened by the ID.3 and ID.4 which will be released soon.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  VW do seem to be betting the company on EV's, it will be interesting to see what happens over the next decade. Having said that the ID.3 is looking disappointingly expensive, I think they were originally saying it would be comparable to a Golf diesel.
raiyu 6y ago
Tesla had a massive head start and with something like cars where there are so many preferences it’s impossible for one manufacturer to own the entire space. However the article is a bit click-baity as it was really about a decrease in sales for Tesla due to the pandemic, not because someone else outsold them.
- rumanator 6y ago
  > However the article is a bit click-baity as it was really about a decrease in sales for Tesla due to the pandemic, not because someone else outsold them. I doubt you read the same article as me, because a) the article quite clearly states that the Renault Zoe dominates sales, b) Tesla doesn't even feature in the top 10 of EV sales in Europe, c) the analyst quoted in the newspiece stated that "Some of this can be explained by issues relating to the production continuity in California, but also by high competition from brands that play as locals in Europe.”
- amzans 6y ago
  I believe a decrease in sales due to the pandemic wouldn’t only affect Tesla. It affects every car manufacturer. So yes, Renault outsold Tesla :)
  - brianwawok 6y ago
    Except Tesla literally didn’t ship cars to Europe for a month? They just launched the Y and are rushing to fill US Y orders. This is like comparing two coders lines of code per day, but zoom in on the day one of the coders was out 4 hours for a doctors appointment. Good job, you proved a coder not at work doesn’t work as much as a coder at work.
PeterStuer 6y ago
A Tesla over here, even with the massive government handouts to the EV industrie, goes for nearly twice the price of a full option BMW 5 series. There is just no way to get it approved in my company car budget.
- xiphias2 6y ago
  We have to wait for the Berlin factory to finish and ramp up. Hopefully it will get Tesla prices closer to prices in US.
  - dogma1138 6y ago
    BMW series 5 is a $50,000 car a Model S is a $100K car. Tesla isn’t overpriced in Europe, it’s overpriced everywhere. Realistically the Model S should be a €45-50K car the Model 3 should be around €20-25K.
    - BoorishBears 6y ago
      Tesla is what Apple detractors think Apple is Apple does truly amazing stuff for the mundane aspects of every device, even simple stuff like coloring cases, and all people can do is complain their laptops cost too much. Tesla makes combines a set of off the shelf set of parts in a plastic bottle, causing an engineer to go "I'm amazed anyone would bother doing this for no discernible gain on such a mundane set of parts" and people misinterpret the amazement and tout it as an engineering marvel and say that's exactly why they deserve their asking price
- ArkVark 6y ago
  Not just that but even a Model 3 is a huge car in Europe. The streets here are narrow, garages are smaller, parking is precarious. Its just too big. Additionally outside of the Autobahn, you're driving through congested city streets where the speed and acceleration is of no value. We need a Tesla sub-brand that can sell cheaper, slower and smaller cars.
  - 6y ago
systemvoltage 6y ago
Would it make sense to short TSLA? One thing going for Tesla is their supercharger network and huge bets on fleet data collection to improve their AI/SD capabilities. Also, Tesla is vertically integrated in terms of battery + car + SDS + SDS hardware (in house silicon). Does that warrant such an insane stock price even accounting for future revenue forecasts and margins?
- nprateem 6y ago
  The only way to get full adoption is to standardise chargers same as with eg USB. Expect the EU to legislate if they haven't already. That'll kill Tesla's network advantage.
  - akmarinov 6y ago
    No, it won’t. Tesla already uses the established CCS standard for their chargers and cars in Europe. That makes it possible for Teslas to charge at other highspeed chargers, but only Teslas can charge at superchargers since they communicate with the car and reject all non-Teslas. To their credit Tesla has a standing invitation to share their supercharger network with other manufacturers, though none have taken them up on on the offer, perhaps the terms are harsh.
    - clouddrover 6y ago
      > To their credit Tesla has a standing invitation to share their supercharger network with other manufacturers Why does there need to be an invitation? Tesla can open their network to all EVs right now, just like all the other charging networks have. Tesla says their mission is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If that's true, then why isn't their network open to all EVs?
      - akmarinov 6y ago
        I believe some integration is required, since the billing for the used power happens via the car on Tesla's end, not the at the supercharger itself. Also they've invested quite a bit in the network, some fee to use it for other manufacturers is in order. And if we're going with the accelerating sustainable transport argument - where do we draw the line? Why not just give away EVs to everyone at no cost?
mindfulhack 6y ago
To me this is no problem. Tesla has been a catalyst. IIRC, its corporate mythology has often said as much. I'm not an economist and I'm sure technically they're supposed to act like a selfish capitalist entity like anyone else, but as a consumer looking on, I just want more non-ICE vehicles no matter what the brand. Tesla will always have a very special place in my heart for making things change. And to me that matters the most. Also its brand power is right up there with Apple, even still now. All the hysteria in the media of win/fail around Tesla is unrealistic.
agumonkey 6y ago
Sadly Renault is in financial struggles, deep. Zoe's were the first EV car to be seen regularly on roads. But I'm starting to see Tesla's more and more often now. Also Citroen released the Ami, a minuscule box with wheels, limited to 30mph or something and accessible to teens without a license. It's apparently being received well.
- speps 6y ago
  For the older generation, much more inreresting design wise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami
akmarinov 6y ago
This article is a bit of bs. Tesla ships their cars from the US on a schedule, when that schedule doesn’t match up with a certain month, you see a big sales drop, since there are no cars to sell. You also get a lot of articles when that happens https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcollins/2020/03/02/teslas-sales-fell-68-in-the-netherlands-and-92-in-norway-in-february/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcollins/2020/03/02/teslas-sa... https://seekingalpha.com/article/4318996-teslas-european-model-3-sales-to-decline-60-in-january-based-on-registration-data https://seekingalpha.com/article/4318996-teslas-european-mod... https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-sales-leap-400-percent-model-3-push-germany/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-sales-leap-400-percent-model...
- clouddrover 6y ago
  > This article is a bit of bs. Here are the year to date sales for Europe: https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html The Renault Zoe is the best selling BEV in Europe so far this year by quite some margin. The Zoe has outsold all of Tesla's European models combined. The article is not bs.
  - noodle 6y ago
    Well, both things can be true, making the situation more complex and therefore the article a bit misrepresentative in both directions. It sounds like the Zoe is outselling Tesla in Europe. It also sounds like Tesla sells every car they ship to Europe.
    - BenoitP 6y ago
      Yep. The Zoe statistics are to be taken with this grain of salt: this is not the same market. It is a model designed for urban use ('citadine' in french), it costs about 24000€. And I'd say it appeals more to the eco-conscious than to the "EV have full torque from zero speed" crowd. IMHO Tesla is doing the right thing here: begin with low volume from the high-margin high-end side of the overall market (think the iPhone beginning). I'd not be surprised to see a Zoe equivalent once the Tesla factories start having significant production in Europe.
erikstarck 6y ago
"While electric vehicle (EV) sales accounted for 18 percent of the total sales in Europe in July" Wow, that's amazing. Two more doublings and EVs dominate the market. "Total EV registrations in Europe jumped from 23,400 sales in July 2019 to 53,200 in 2020" Two more years like that and we're there...
- ragebol 6y ago
  > Two more doublings and EVs dominate the market. What kind of time do you expect this to take?
  - erikstarck 6y ago
    Uhm... have you looked two rows down? :) Not sure growth will continue at that pace, of course, but we've seen 50-100% annual growth the last couple of years (63% globally 2018). So... in a few years, perhaps 3-5?
- growlist 6y ago
  That'll require two more years of CV-related economic destruction then - the only reason EVs are taking that much percentage is because new car sales overall are through the floor.
- Proven 6y ago
  Let's celebrate the record subsidies for EV and record taxes on all other cars, as well as the decreasing living standards that result in most people being unable to buy anything but a shitty, small EV car. Wow, that's amazing!
Havoc 6y ago
Tesla better up their game on finish & quality. If the old school makers catch up on battery tech etc and maintain their currently superior fittings & finish that could end badly for T.
noneeeed 6y ago
This is good news. It's a sign that competition in the market is heating up and that multiple car companies are making different models for different markets (geographic, usage and price levels) that appeal to people. All the cheerleading and nay-saying on both sides is tedious in the extreme. We should all be cheering the expansion of EVs accross the car industry. No, EVs are not perfect, and there is a lot of issues that need to be worked out from charging and range to the resources used to make them, but all those things are being worked on and this competition is part of that. Around me (in the UK) the EVs I notice seem to be pretty much split between Tesla's (mostly 3s with the odd S), Renault Zoes, and the Nissan Leaf (although they seem to be a minority). I'm also seeing a lot of Nissan ENV 200 vans being used by local businesses (including my plumber, who abasolutely loves his). Different people have different requirements. For a very large portion of the UK population, the market leading range on a Tesla is a plus for many people, especially if it's a main car. But many cars in the UK rarely go more than 100 miles in a day, the last figures I've seen from the RAC (UK equivalent of AAA in the US I think) puts the average daily drive at something like 25 miles (roughly my wife's commute), so for many people something like the Zoe is absolutely perfect, especially for a second car. On a random side-note, I really love the sound the Zoe makes when it goes past, it's wonderfully futuristic.
- rich_sasha 6y ago
  I always found it strange that we have a very developed petrol infrastructure, but not electric charging. Petrol needs to be shipped, first from drilling site to refinery, then distributed around the country, stored in underground tanks, protected against fire, kept topped up as supply/demand fluctuates, and even then you are probably never further than 10 miles from the nearest petrol station. Whereas electricity is, well, everywhere. Every petrol station has an electric connection. It doesn't need to be stored on site, transport is easy (hard for the grid but easy for the end user), no unusual hazards, etc. Of course charging is slower, and I guess that's the real bottleneck, but even then. We put holes filled with petrol all over the country, but can't put extra sockets.
  - clouddrover 6y ago
    > Every petrol station has an electric connection. It's not as simple as using what's there. For fast chargers you also need to install a high power grid connection. However, battery based chargers are an interesting option for low installation costs without a high power connection while still achieving 120+ kW charging. The battery can either be integrated into the charger unit itself for the lowest installation cost or a large battery pack can be placed on site to run the chargers off: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/vw-group-components-e-on-battery-ev-charger-germany/ https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/vw-group-components-e-on-... https://freewiretech.com/products/dc-boost-charger/ https://freewiretech.com/products/dc-boost-charger/ https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129240_battery-boosted-charger-a-model-for-filling-in-fast-charging-gaps https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129240_battery-boosted... https://thedriven.io/2020/05/07/new-goulburn-battery-beats-grid-upgrade-for-electric-vehicle-ultra-rapid-charging/ https://thedriven.io/2020/05/07/new-goulburn-battery-beats-g... As battery prices continue to fall these types of charger configurations will become more attractive.
rich_sasha 6y ago
It's part of a wider trend I guess, by which US cars are just not popular in Europe. Ford is the exception, but (a) it is not super-popular in Europe, merely one of many brands, and (b) even then it seems to be different cars than in the US. Definitely you don't see the massive Ford pick-ups, and no Corvettes, Chevrolets etc. It's not as simple as nationalism, Japanese and Korean cars are definitely around. Not sure what the reasons are, perhaps a different approach/philosophy to car design? By that line, perhaps Tesla was popular so long as the European/Japanese competition was weak, but once that picked up, and better fitted the market expectations, it took over?
bryanlarsen 6y ago
Boats full of cars take 2 months to get from California to Europe. 2 months before the beginning of July the Tesla factory was shut down due to COVID 19. So not surprising that Tesla didn't sell many cars in Europe in July.

46 points by Alupis 6y ago

Right car for the right market for the right price. Tesla used to be the number 1 BEV maker in Europe but now they're number 3: https://www.schmidtmatthias.de/post/april-2020-european-electric-car-market-top-sellers https://www.schmidtmatthias.de/post/april-2020-european-elec... Hyundai will become number 3 as they start to release their Hyundai and Kia BEVs in greater volumes. Volkswagen with its multiple brands (VW, Audi, Porsche, SEAT, Skoda, etc.) is now the biggest BEV maker in Europe. Even the VW e-Golf still does well: https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html VW's BEV lead will be strengthened by the ID.3 and ID.4 which will be released soon.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago
VW do seem to be betting the company on EV's, it will be interesting to see what happens over the next decade. Having said that the ID.3 is looking disappointingly expensive, I think they were originally saying it would be comparable to a Golf diesel.

raiyu 6y ago

Tesla had a massive head start and with something like cars where there are so many preferences it’s impossible for one manufacturer to own the entire space. However the article is a bit click-baity as it was really about a decrease in sales for Tesla due to the pandemic, not because someone else outsold them.

rumanator 6y ago
> However the article is a bit click-baity as it was really about a decrease in sales for Tesla due to the pandemic, not because someone else outsold them. I doubt you read the same article as me, because a) the article quite clearly states that the Renault Zoe dominates sales, b) Tesla doesn't even feature in the top 10 of EV sales in Europe, c) the analyst quoted in the newspiece stated that "Some of this can be explained by issues relating to the production continuity in California, but also by high competition from brands that play as locals in Europe.”
amzans 6y ago
I believe a decrease in sales due to the pandemic wouldn’t only affect Tesla. It affects every car manufacturer. So yes, Renault outsold Tesla :)
- brianwawok 6y ago
  Except Tesla literally didn’t ship cars to Europe for a month? They just launched the Y and are rushing to fill US Y orders. This is like comparing two coders lines of code per day, but zoom in on the day one of the coders was out 4 hours for a doctors appointment. Good job, you proved a coder not at work doesn’t work as much as a coder at work.

PeterStuer 6y ago

A Tesla over here, even with the massive government handouts to the EV industrie, goes for nearly twice the price of a full option BMW 5 series. There is just no way to get it approved in my company car budget.

xiphias2 6y ago
We have to wait for the Berlin factory to finish and ramp up. Hopefully it will get Tesla prices closer to prices in US.
- dogma1138 6y ago
  BMW series 5 is a $50,000 car a Model S is a $100K car. Tesla isn’t overpriced in Europe, it’s overpriced everywhere. Realistically the Model S should be a €45-50K car the Model 3 should be around €20-25K.
  - BoorishBears 6y ago
    Tesla is what Apple detractors think Apple is Apple does truly amazing stuff for the mundane aspects of every device, even simple stuff like coloring cases, and all people can do is complain their laptops cost too much. Tesla makes combines a set of off the shelf set of parts in a plastic bottle, causing an engineer to go "I'm amazed anyone would bother doing this for no discernible gain on such a mundane set of parts" and people misinterpret the amazement and tout it as an engineering marvel and say that's exactly why they deserve their asking price
ArkVark 6y ago
Not just that but even a Model 3 is a huge car in Europe. The streets here are narrow, garages are smaller, parking is precarious. Its just too big. Additionally outside of the Autobahn, you're driving through congested city streets where the speed and acceleration is of no value. We need a Tesla sub-brand that can sell cheaper, slower and smaller cars.
- 6y ago

systemvoltage 6y ago

Would it make sense to short TSLA? One thing going for Tesla is their supercharger network and huge bets on fleet data collection to improve their AI/SD capabilities. Also, Tesla is vertically integrated in terms of battery + car + SDS + SDS hardware (in house silicon). Does that warrant such an insane stock price even accounting for future revenue forecasts and margins?

nprateem 6y ago
The only way to get full adoption is to standardise chargers same as with eg USB. Expect the EU to legislate if they haven't already. That'll kill Tesla's network advantage.
- akmarinov 6y ago
  No, it won’t. Tesla already uses the established CCS standard for their chargers and cars in Europe. That makes it possible for Teslas to charge at other highspeed chargers, but only Teslas can charge at superchargers since they communicate with the car and reject all non-Teslas. To their credit Tesla has a standing invitation to share their supercharger network with other manufacturers, though none have taken them up on on the offer, perhaps the terms are harsh.
  - clouddrover 6y ago
    > To their credit Tesla has a standing invitation to share their supercharger network with other manufacturers Why does there need to be an invitation? Tesla can open their network to all EVs right now, just like all the other charging networks have. Tesla says their mission is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If that's true, then why isn't their network open to all EVs?
    - akmarinov 6y ago
      I believe some integration is required, since the billing for the used power happens via the car on Tesla's end, not the at the supercharger itself. Also they've invested quite a bit in the network, some fee to use it for other manufacturers is in order. And if we're going with the accelerating sustainable transport argument - where do we draw the line? Why not just give away EVs to everyone at no cost?

mindfulhack 6y ago

To me this is no problem. Tesla has been a catalyst. IIRC, its corporate mythology has often said as much. I'm not an economist and I'm sure technically they're supposed to act like a selfish capitalist entity like anyone else, but as a consumer looking on, I just want more non-ICE vehicles no matter what the brand. Tesla will always have a very special place in my heart for making things change. And to me that matters the most. Also its brand power is right up there with Apple, even still now. All the hysteria in the media of win/fail around Tesla is unrealistic.

agumonkey 6y ago

Sadly Renault is in financial struggles, deep. Zoe's were the first EV car to be seen regularly on roads. But I'm starting to see Tesla's more and more often now. Also Citroen released the Ami, a minuscule box with wheels, limited to 30mph or something and accessible to teens without a license. It's apparently being received well.

speps 6y ago
For the older generation, much more inreresting design wise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Ami

akmarinov 6y ago

This article is a bit of bs. Tesla ships their cars from the US on a schedule, when that schedule doesn’t match up with a certain month, you see a big sales drop, since there are no cars to sell. You also get a lot of articles when that happens https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcollins/2020/03/02/teslas-sales-fell-68-in-the-netherlands-and-92-in-norway-in-february/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcollins/2020/03/02/teslas-sa... https://seekingalpha.com/article/4318996-teslas-european-model-3-sales-to-decline-60-in-january-based-on-registration-data https://seekingalpha.com/article/4318996-teslas-european-mod... https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-sales-leap-400-percent-model-3-push-germany/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-sales-leap-400-percent-model...

clouddrover 6y ago
> This article is a bit of bs. Here are the year to date sales for Europe: https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html https://ev-sales.blogspot.com/2020/08/europe-july-2020.html The Renault Zoe is the best selling BEV in Europe so far this year by quite some margin. The Zoe has outsold all of Tesla's European models combined. The article is not bs.
- noodle 6y ago
  Well, both things can be true, making the situation more complex and therefore the article a bit misrepresentative in both directions. It sounds like the Zoe is outselling Tesla in Europe. It also sounds like Tesla sells every car they ship to Europe.
  - BenoitP 6y ago
    Yep. The Zoe statistics are to be taken with this grain of salt: this is not the same market. It is a model designed for urban use ('citadine' in french), it costs about 24000€. And I'd say it appeals more to the eco-conscious than to the "EV have full torque from zero speed" crowd. IMHO Tesla is doing the right thing here: begin with low volume from the high-margin high-end side of the overall market (think the iPhone beginning). I'd not be surprised to see a Zoe equivalent once the Tesla factories start having significant production in Europe.

erikstarck 6y ago

"While electric vehicle (EV) sales accounted for 18 percent of the total sales in Europe in July" Wow, that's amazing. Two more doublings and EVs dominate the market. "Total EV registrations in Europe jumped from 23,400 sales in July 2019 to 53,200 in 2020" Two more years like that and we're there...

ragebol 6y ago
> Two more doublings and EVs dominate the market. What kind of time do you expect this to take?
- erikstarck 6y ago
  Uhm... have you looked two rows down? :) Not sure growth will continue at that pace, of course, but we've seen 50-100% annual growth the last couple of years (63% globally 2018). So... in a few years, perhaps 3-5?
growlist 6y ago
That'll require two more years of CV-related economic destruction then - the only reason EVs are taking that much percentage is because new car sales overall are through the floor.
Proven 6y ago
Let's celebrate the record subsidies for EV and record taxes on all other cars, as well as the decreasing living standards that result in most people being unable to buy anything but a shitty, small EV car. Wow, that's amazing!

Havoc 6y ago

Tesla better up their game on finish & quality. If the old school makers catch up on battery tech etc and maintain their currently superior fittings & finish that could end badly for T.

noneeeed 6y ago

This is good news. It's a sign that competition in the market is heating up and that multiple car companies are making different models for different markets (geographic, usage and price levels) that appeal to people. All the cheerleading and nay-saying on both sides is tedious in the extreme. We should all be cheering the expansion of EVs accross the car industry. No, EVs are not perfect, and there is a lot of issues that need to be worked out from charging and range to the resources used to make them, but all those things are being worked on and this competition is part of that. Around me (in the UK) the EVs I notice seem to be pretty much split between Tesla's (mostly 3s with the odd S), Renault Zoes, and the Nissan Leaf (although they seem to be a minority). I'm also seeing a lot of Nissan ENV 200 vans being used by local businesses (including my plumber, who abasolutely loves his). Different people have different requirements. For a very large portion of the UK population, the market leading range on a Tesla is a plus for many people, especially if it's a main car. But many cars in the UK rarely go more than 100 miles in a day, the last figures I've seen from the RAC (UK equivalent of AAA in the US I think) puts the average daily drive at something like 25 miles (roughly my wife's commute), so for many people something like the Zoe is absolutely perfect, especially for a second car. On a random side-note, I really love the sound the Zoe makes when it goes past, it's wonderfully futuristic.

rich_sasha 6y ago
I always found it strange that we have a very developed petrol infrastructure, but not electric charging. Petrol needs to be shipped, first from drilling site to refinery, then distributed around the country, stored in underground tanks, protected against fire, kept topped up as supply/demand fluctuates, and even then you are probably never further than 10 miles from the nearest petrol station. Whereas electricity is, well, everywhere. Every petrol station has an electric connection. It doesn't need to be stored on site, transport is easy (hard for the grid but easy for the end user), no unusual hazards, etc. Of course charging is slower, and I guess that's the real bottleneck, but even then. We put holes filled with petrol all over the country, but can't put extra sockets.
- clouddrover 6y ago
  > Every petrol station has an electric connection. It's not as simple as using what's there. For fast chargers you also need to install a high power grid connection. However, battery based chargers are an interesting option for low installation costs without a high power connection while still achieving 120+ kW charging. The battery can either be integrated into the charger unit itself for the lowest installation cost or a large battery pack can be placed on site to run the chargers off: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/vw-group-components-e-on-battery-ev-charger-germany/ https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/vw-group-components-e-on-... https://freewiretech.com/products/dc-boost-charger/ https://freewiretech.com/products/dc-boost-charger/ https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129240_battery-boosted-charger-a-model-for-filling-in-fast-charging-gaps https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129240_battery-boosted... https://thedriven.io/2020/05/07/new-goulburn-battery-beats-grid-upgrade-for-electric-vehicle-ultra-rapid-charging/ https://thedriven.io/2020/05/07/new-goulburn-battery-beats-g... As battery prices continue to fall these types of charger configurations will become more attractive.

rich_sasha 6y ago

It's part of a wider trend I guess, by which US cars are just not popular in Europe. Ford is the exception, but (a) it is not super-popular in Europe, merely one of many brands, and (b) even then it seems to be different cars than in the US. Definitely you don't see the massive Ford pick-ups, and no Corvettes, Chevrolets etc. It's not as simple as nationalism, Japanese and Korean cars are definitely around. Not sure what the reasons are, perhaps a different approach/philosophy to car design? By that line, perhaps Tesla was popular so long as the European/Japanese competition was weak, but once that picked up, and better fitted the market expectations, it took over?

bryanlarsen 6y ago

Boats full of cars take 2 months to get from California to Europe. 2 months before the beginning of July the Tesla factory was shut down due to COVID 19. So not surprising that Tesla didn't sell many cars in Europe in July.