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Tesla Sales Fall Off a Cliff Globally, Including Germany, Australia, and China
- senectus1 2y agooddly, UK sales are UP 20%...
- LightBug1 2y agoIgnore us. We've been in the ridiculous camp since Brexit appeared on the horizon ...
- sleepyguy 2y agoThe real story here is Australia and China. According to some auto blogs, BYD is destroying them in both markets.
- boredatoms 2y agoAustralia not having local car manufacturers really makes it easier for BYD, not having to worry about protectionist tariffs like in the US
- fsckboy 2y agoyes, they taught us in school that Denmark, which makes no cars, had significantly cheaper cars than... oooh wait a minute, they got sucked into the EU which does make cars... is it still true? how is this handled by EC policy?
- Symbiote 2y agoDenmark has companies making parts for car companies elsewhere in Europe. I don't know the relative size of this industry compared to anywhere else.
- tossandthrow 2y agoAre you proposing that Denmark is a part of the EU because it does not produce its own cars? Cars are incredibly expensive in Denmark (Not quite Singapore levels, but high). This, however, is more grounded in a cultural difference where walkable cities are preferred. The US is incredibly car centric - to an extend where US trips can be directly read in my stress levels as measured on my watch. The US is so incredibly noisy and smelly.
- fsckboy 2y ago>Are you proposing that Denmark is a part of the EU because it does not produce its own cars? where did you get that idea from?
- tossandthrow 2y ago> ... they got sucked into the EU which does make cars. Additional taxing is not handled in the EU. Cars are considerably more expensive in Denmark than Germany because taxes on cars are significantly higher in Denmar.
- mvdtnz 2y agoAnecdotally in New Zealand I have several neighbours with new BYDs. In my same neighbourhood there are two Teslas (Model 3) and both were purchased over 5 years ago. No one in their right mind is buying a Tesla in this market, and not because Elon is a twat (although he very much is). BYD is just better value.
- averageRoyalty 2y agoThe base model 3 and seal are about $10k difference in AU (not a huge difference in that price range) and the BYD is slower with less range. Personally every time I've rented a BYD (only the Atto admittedly) I've found the UI to be awful. The two Android screens are often out of sync on key information, and the interior looks like it was designed by Homer Simpson making a "future car".
- mvdtnz 2y agoNo one is buying the Seal, it's the Atto 3. And 10k is about a quarter of the price, I don't know what you mean by "not a huge difference in that price range".
- averageRoyalty 2y agoPersonally I don't think $10k is a massive jump if you're buying in the $40-60k range, but maybe my viewpoint isn't common.
- averageRoyalty 2y agoIs it? They're doing well in AU, but still well behind Tesla[1]. 1. https://evcentral.com.au/2024-australian-ev-sales-tesla-and-byd-still-on-top-mg-slumping-bmw-smashing-benz-and-toyota-a-bit-player-with-bz4x/ https://evcentral.com.au/2024-australian-ev-sales-tesla-and-...
- sleepyguy 2y agoArticle is from 10/24
- scarab92 2y agoThings haven’t improved for BYD since then. I think BYD makes a great car for a great price, but Tesla is still outselling them 5:1
- cristiancavalli 2y agoWrong: https://www.drive.com.au/news/byd-revenue-tops-tesla-for-the-first-time/ https://www.drive.com.au/news/byd-revenue-tops-tesla-for-the... It’s very obviously improving for BYD.
- scarab92 2y agoYou said wrong, but then provided an article which backs up what I said? That Tesla is still outselling BYD by a large margin in Australia? Are you confusing global revenue $ for Australia sales # ?
- cristiancavalli 2y ago> Things haven’t improved for BYD since then. You stated it wasn’t getting better for byd. From the article: BYD revenues in Q3 (July to September) 2024 were 201 billion yuan ($AU42.85 billion) – a record high for the brand and a jump of 24 per cent over the same period in 2023. More on byds ascent from earlier this year: https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/byd-s-hybrid-ute-jumps-to-no-6-in-australia-as-tesla-sales-slide-70pc-20250305-p5lh2f https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/byd-s-hybrid-ute-jum... Going from not having market to be the no. 6 best selling is by definition getting better. So yes you are wrong and sales are improving for byd.
- Rodeoclash 2y agoAnecdotal but I just purchased an Atto3 in Melbourne. Tesla wasn't even considered after Musk's behaviour and the value for money that the BYD provides. The reason I brought the Atto3 was after talking to 4 or 5 Uber drivers with them who swore by them.
- orionblastar 2y agoOf course, there is a global Tesla boycott. Other electric cars are also made by other companies which sell cheaper than a Tesla.
- danans 2y ago> Of course, there is a global Tesla boycott. Is there really? In the sense of a global organized boycott spearheaded by a particular organization? I've not yet seen anything like that. It seems like instead the brand has just been damaged by Musk in the eyes of the kind of person who might be likely to buy an EV in the first place. Furthermore, that has happened as their offerings have become stale in their primary markets - their old branding approach (techno-utopianism) has lost its appeal, but their new branding (techno-dystopianism) is turning most people off.
- sekai 2y ago> Is there really? In the sense of a global organized boycott spearheaded by a particular organization? I've not yet seen anything like that. It seems like instead the brand has just been damaged by Musk in the eyes of the kind of person who might be likely to buy an EV in the first place. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uk-new-car-sales-drop-1-february-industry-data-shows-2025-03-05/ https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uk-new... "According to Germany's road traffic agency, Tesla sold 1,429 cars in Germany, a decline of 76%, an even bigger decline than the 60% drop in January. Overall, sales of electric vehicles rose 30.8% to 35,949 in Germany." "Tesla sales were down 24% in the Netherlands, 42% in Sweden, 48% in both Norway and Denmark, 45% in France, 55% in Italy, 10% in Spain and 53% in Portugal"
- chgs 2y agoNot an organised boycott, just people voting with their wallets.
- bawolff 2y ago> Is there really? In the sense of a global organized boycott spearheaded by a particular organization? That's not the normal definition of boycott. Usually boycott just means to refuse to buy from a particular vendor due to some reason other than cost-value of the product. I dont know about "global" but there are certainly many regional groups boycotting american products in general, and musk doubly so.
- austinallegro 2y agoI'd rather drive an Austin Allegro or a Rover than a piece of Tesla junk on wheels. Tesla tried to copy British Leyland "that'll do" coachbuilding and failed miserably!
- smallerize 2y agoDo you think the board will push Elon out, or will the company just collapse when it can't raise cash? I kinda want to buy a used Tesla now while they're cheap and stash it in the garage until this blows over. But I need it to keep getting software support.
- ericjmorey 2y agoMaybe Russian and Middle Eastern money bails him out again.
- leptons 2y agoThe brand is forever tainted by "Dark Gothic MAGA".
- willsmith72 2y agoit is, and for moral reasons i wouldn't buy one new. but i've had the same thought as parent. if the 2nd hand market really dips, i'm not going to let dirty looks from strangers get in the way of a smart economic & ecological move for me
- leptons 2y agoI'm sure Musk would send you a sieg heil for doing it.
- willsmith72 2y agoi mean what do they get from buying a second hand car? i'll have solar soon, will very rarely need the charging network
- tobias3 2y agoResale value plays into buy decisions
- pesus 2y ago
- arj 2y agoGood riddance
- bloomingkales 2y agoI guess he really thought that his initial userbase was now too small, and the larger more sustainable base is what he thought would be enough. He could still be right (no pun intended), but he would need all of the MAGA people to buy his cars, and China. It's not the worst bet, but more importantly, it very much exposes the lack of conviction in values. The vast majority of people are good, and we're finally seeing that spirit moving (about time!).
- basisword 2y agoCan’t see the trade war helping him much in China. And MAGA is a pretty small market compared with…the rest of the world.
- daveguy 2y agoYeah, he's kinda fkd. Trumpty isn't even letting him fire people over the cabinet heads. Oops, fascism.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- outer_web 2y agoHe could be banking on people having short memories.
- kivle 2y agoThat would require him to not be in the media long enough for people to forget. He loves the attention he's getting, so don't expect that to happen any time soon.
- outer_web 2y agoHe might think he is like the president and can just use a new controversy to make people forget about the previous one.
- 2y ago
- basisword 2y agoIf Musk’s reputation has a significant effect on Tesla sales overseas, what can investors do?
- willsmith72 2y agoother than sell? it's still not clear if they even have director independence.
- kelseyfrog 2y agoMusk's job is to make investors money. The moment he stops doing that, he's dead weight.
- timbit42 2y agoSell earlier than later?
- bawolff 2y agoA majority of investors could get together and replace the board. Otherwise not much. Part of the risk in investing is that you might invest in a company with shitty management. If you made a bad investment (except in very extreme cases which this probably doesnt cross the line into) that is your fault. Investing is not the same thing as free money.
- sgt 2y agoThey can celebrate a couple of decades of success. Tesla won, it truly changed the world - EV's are everywhere now. The shareholders helped build that, and even if Tesla is now dying - it meant they made a difference.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- redwall_hp 2y agoSell it now and minimize the loss.
- whymeogod 2y agoSell their tesla shares, and the sooner the better
- basisword 2y ago[flagged]
- readthenotes1 2y agoHe made the Nazi salute too late in the month to have that dramatic of an impact on sales. the article we are reading is fairly context free, how it does link to one with a lot better data https://www.carscoops.com/2025/03/tesla-sales-plunge-44-in-norway-despite-ev-market-soaring-by-53/ https://www.carscoops.com/2025/03/tesla-sales-plunge-44-in-n...
- qwerpy 2y agoIt's wild how "Elon did a Nazi salute" is now taken as an unquestioned truth. Most of the time here, false or exaggerated statements are "source?"-d and nitpicked to death, but not this one because so many people want it to be true.
- aprilthird2021 2y agoI think people who focus too much on "whether he really meant it or really made the salute" etc, are missing the forrest for the trees. He's a guy who supports the AFD, who has said "German people are too focused on the past and should get rid of national guilt" or something along these lines. He definitely spends a lot of time online regurgitating 4chan like memes (which fine, I do that too, but I'm not a world leader) and acts and talks like a person who is obsessed with white demographics in Western societies. He has a reputation of someone who would plausibly do that as a playful nod towards his terminally online fanbase. That's the issue. His reputation makes it believable. Whether he really meant to or not has little to do with that fact. Ultimately one's reputation is everything in democratic politics
- magic_man 2y agoPissing off your primary customer base probably isn't smart. I don't see MAGA buying electric cars. In foreign markets BYD is a better value. He did become the world's richest man and he bought himself and election so I wouldn't under estimate him.
- readthenotes1 2y ago"I don't see MAGA buying electric cars" The most vehement Trump supporters I know have been Musk fans since the time he supported Babylon Bee when they were kicked off Twitter. They believe that the Climate Change stuff is all a big con to get government money, of course. And those MAGA now have Tesla's and Starlink because.
- iamtheworstdev 2y ago> And those MAGA now have Tesla's and Starlink because. no they don't. and the sales numbers prove it.
- davkan 2y agoNobody is buying Starlink as a political statement.
- abenga 2y agoStarlink would probably continue to sell because there are no reasonably priced alternatives where it make sense (in the boonies).
- davkan 2y agoYes, I will continue to subscribe to Starlink because the alternative is 30/1 dsl. I disliked Elon back when I started anyway.
- ben_w 2y agoI'm 90% sure China will be ready, able, and willing to sell a reasonably priced alternative to Americans by the time of the next US presidential election. And the remaining 10% includes not just that they can't industrial-espionage their way to copying both product and launch vehicle, but also all the combined odds of "WW3" and "the US no longer exists" and the other less dramatic things that may stand in the way.
- like_any_other 2y ago[flagged]
- auggierose 2y agoIt's a good point.
- okasaki 2y ago[flagged]
- yorwba 2y agoMost people are capable of recognizing that countries are not monoliths, but a collection of separate entities, so that it is possible to treat a country's politics and its car brands differently. It is really hard to do that for Elon Musk the politician and Elon Musk the Tesla CEO, since they're the same person.
- willsmith72 2y agoyou're comparing the actions of a government vs those of the ceo. of course any company in china is more linked to the gov than most in the US, but BYD's ceo is far more likeable and less offensive to the majority
- light_hue_1 2y agoChina isn't here destroying my country. They aren't trying to destroy the department of education. They aren't trying to destroy the entire research establishment. This has nothing to do with PR. China can say whatever it wants, but it doesn't really affect my life much. Musk is having a direct massive negative effect.
- sudosysgen 2y agoPeople are plenty happy to make that distinction over US invasions which ended up killing millions of people, overseas black sites, extraordinary rendition, and electoral interference. Why is it surprising they'd do the same with China?
- the_mitsuhiko 2y agoIt's quite likely that most of that fall in sales is just an effect of the retooling for the Model Y refresh. However, I would not be entirely surprised if Tesla does struggle a bit given how politically charged owning a Tesla currently is. I however doubt that it's anything like "falling off a cliff".
- more_corn 2y agoPay no attention to the catastrophic drop in sales in Scandinavia and Germany following Elon’s Nazi salute on national television. Pay no attention to the dozens of dealerships subjected to violent responses due to the above and the CEOs mass firings of civil servants. Or… Google around for cases of vandalism of the cars and the dealers. Maybe review some of the protest language. Pretty sure “politically charged” misses the point by several orders of magnitude.
- FirmwareBurner 2y ago> Google around for cases of vandalism of the cars and the dealers. Pretty sure “politically charged” misses the point by several orders of magnitude. I'm not sure how that justifies terrorism. Anyone destroying public or private property needs to be arrested by the police and sent to court.
- bdangubic 2y agoeh they'll all get pardons anyways at some point, right-wing nuts now and left-wing nuts in a few years :)
- bdangubic 2y agoalso I think that what we learned on Jan 6 is that anyone vandalizing Tesla dealerships is just tourists showing their love for the country :)
- FirmwareBurner 2y agoDid you see me defending those form January 6?! Of course what they did was absolutely wrong and so was pardoning them. Why are you making it a competition? Like I said, ANYONE causing property damage needs to face justice, regardless of political orientation or motivation. There are no heroes or patriots in such actions, only criminals. I don't want to live in a society where such actions are tolerated, and neither do you.
- forgetfreeman 2y agoWhere the fuck are the minority shareholder lawsuits? Anyone?
- xyst 2y agoAll I have to say is: good. Hope it continues to nosedive.
- mdorazio 2y agoElon’s antics certainly haven’t helped things, but the real story is legitimate alternatives finally entering the market from multiple OEMs (especially BYD) and Tesla’s absolute face plant on model development. A large portion of Tesla’s sales were driven by a lack of decent alternatives if you wanted a BEV. Today that’s no longer the case, especially in Europe and China. And instead of pushing for a new small Model 2 with global appeal, they launched Cybertruck and Cybercab. Meanwhile Model S and X are just plain old. This is becoming a case study in 1) squandering a market lead, and 2) the danger of making devil’s bargains with China.
- averageRoyalty 2y agoIt's also worth noting the S and X haven't been available in Australia for years (and I assume some other countries), which is probably a limiting factor too.
- threeseed 2y agoBut that doesn't explain the massive drop in sales. It really is a combination of better and cheaper Chinese EVs, Trump negatively impacting Australia e.g. tariffs, undermining security and Musk's antics e.g. Nazi salute etc.
- csa 2y ago> But that doesn't explain the massive drop in sales. New model y releasing in May. This may not explain all of the drop off, but I’m certain this refreshed model explains some of it.
- threeseed 2y agoThankfully, we only have a few months before this excuse runs dry. Tesla has had the slowest and most minor refresh cycles of any car marker in my lifetime and it has had a minimal impact on sales. Not sure why a refreshed Y is suddenly going to result in a 70% increase in sales. Especially when in the next few weeks Trump/Musk are expected to start a trade war with Australia.
- oldpersonintx 2y ago[dead]
- breadwinner 2y agoIf Trump is a narcissist, Musk is a megalomaniac. "Everything Elon does is about acquiring and consolidating power. This is why he likes far right parties, because they are easier to control," says former Musk friend Philip Low. When you buy a Tesla you're enriching a megalomaniac who wants to control members of congress by threatening to primary them [1], and control judges by threatening to impeach them [2]. [1] https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-elon-musk-primary-republican-ethics-rcna184139 https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-elon-musk-pri... [2] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/american-bar-association-backs-rule-law-elon-musk-calls-judges-impeach-rcna194662 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/american...
- cft 2y agoI though the consensus here was that he went into politics to get richer?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- rad_gruchalski 2y agoHim getting richer is orthogonal to Tesla going bust.
- wat10000 2y agoHe has way more money than he needs to buy essentially anything. Quadrupling his net worth would have pretty much zero impact on him at this point. He wants power. Wealth is a route to power (money is ultimately a form of power) but it only goes so far. He maxed that out and now he’s finding other means.
- permo-w 2y agomy understanding is that he just got a bit too involved with the culture wars online, a la JK Rowling and your nutso uncle/conspiracy-obsessed facebook friend, but he's just that much more exposed to influence, and that much more powerful, and then he semi-accidentally locked himself into it by buying twitter. I really don't think there's a genius play at the end of it all, or even that it's corruption
- EasyMark 2y agoIt may work out, they are shameless about mixing conflicts of interest in the new regime. I think he might possibly become a trillionaire if Trump actually succeeds and no one stands up to him
- mesk 2y agoWell, when I see the disaster of the 'We are going to run this country like a bussiness', one has to think, what kind of disasters should one await from the bussiness that he is running like bussiness...cyber..cough..track..cough... It seems to me like when a young IT engineer comes on project running for 100 years, and starts to rewrite the core service in nodejs, because it will cost less to run it, or whatever - and you end up with half working production, because someone didint't understood, why the system is and was built how it was built, and what are the implications of changing it... It might work on greenfield project, but anything else will probably not survive such a 'expert' in charge.
- rwyinuse 2y agoAt this point, for most of the world buying a Chinese product carries less geopolitical risk than buying similar American product. China is predictable in advancing its own interests abroad, while Trump's administration has shown itself to be exactly the opposite. It's too bad for Elon that their new buddies in Russia aren't much into electric cars. Even Chinese companies mainly export petrol powered ones there due to lack of demand for EV's.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Animats 2y agoWho's running Tesla? Top management below Musk is just Tom Zhu, who went back to China, and a chief financial officer.[1] Drew Baglino, the powertrain guy, quit last year. [1] https://electrek.co/2024/05/06/elon-musk-no-2-tesla-goes-back-to-china-ceo-isolates-himself-top/ https://electrek.co/2024/05/06/elon-musk-no-2-tesla-goes-bac...
- seper8 2y agoLets be real. Tesla will not be able to solve FSD with their current approach. Even if Tesla were to solve it tomorrow, it will take YEARS to be approved (decades in Europe). Teslas models are being outcompeted - not only by Chinese companies I might tell you. And most of all... Tesla = Elon... And we all know he is losing his mind currently. Calling the Polish minister of foreign affairs a "little man". Suggesting that the US should leave NATO. You should see how much he tweets nowadays, and how little sleep he gets. Elon Musk is Howard Hughes, about to move into his cinema and stay there for years.
- stego-tech 2y agoGood. I kind of have to sit back and laugh at the "I'm a genius / Oh no!" schadenfreude of his decision-making of late. Nevermind his present playbook is directly ripped from Bob Page (billionaire villain of Deus Ex), but seeing people tie themselves up into knots to still defend his "4D-Chess Brilliance" as he keeps footgunning his business enterprises just makes me facepalm at the sheer stupidity of these bootblacks. The guy invested in an EV company and built a cult of personality around going lean, mean, and green with EVs. Sporty, well-built cars with tasteful interiors and designs, that also did away with the traditional American dealership model. That worked, because it was an objectively good idea. Then he cut costs, lost the plot, and did everything he could to game the share price rather than run a better car company. As a result, others began moving into the space and copying Tesla's M.O.: in-vehicle surveillance tech, cloud-required connectivity, a focus on digital features over physical reliability, cheaper materials at higher costs, etc. So now the car market is full of "pseudo-Teslas" that nobody can afford, and nobody really wants; if we're going to buy a cheap piece of junk, we can buy a used car with the advantage it won't spy on us. He did the same thing with SpaceX: transformed the company into a payload juggernaut, lost the plot, invested into every ancillary market possible, threw out quality control, and seems content riding wave after wave of massive explosions instead of serious R&D and QA/QC while pivoting to internet service that's angering governments, environmentalists, and scientists alike. I could repeat this with X and DOGE, but we all know the scorecard there. The dude has completely lost the plot, and is high on his own supply. He doesn't invest assuming failure and preparing for success, he invests assuming success and failure isn't a possibility (which, to be fair, is kind of true when you've captured weakened governments). He's just a bad leader. Full stop. If his companies' boards weren't packed with boot-licking sycophants, they'd likely have tossed his butt out for doing drugs on multiple interviews like some sort of college drug dealer instead of a C-Suite visionary.
- kioleanu 2y agoIn Germany, it sure didn’t help that the 2024 TüV report says that 14% of Tesla Model 3s fail their first inspection, which is done when the car is 2/3 years old (VW is at 3,5 - 7%). My last car, a Ford Focus, passed the inspections on the first try for 13 years in a row
- maxnevermind 2y agoI wonder what will the failure rate for BYD. I wish automakers would started to deliver on a promise EV being more reliable.
- pcj-github 2y agoA new car purchase should make the buyer feel /good/. With Tesla, it just doesn't feel good anymore. It feels dirty, dishonest, and corrupt. No thanks.
- gooboo 2y ago[flagged]
- tomashm 2y agoI’ve on my 4th Tesla so far. There will not be a 5th one. I will not let my money go to Musk.
- scarab92 2y agoThe net margin on a Tesla is only a few percent, and of that Musk only receives 12% (only owns 12% of Tesla stock). A guy who is worth hundreds of billions, and is willing to give Wikimedia a billion dollars to change their name to dickipedia, doesn’t care whether he makes an extra hundred from you or not. Just buy the car you like.
- bdangubic 2y agothere is literally nothing he cares about except for money (including his own myriad of children he probably can’t even name)
- scarab92 2y agoI think that was true at some point in his life, but these days he regularly and deliberately torches billions of dollars just to make a point on principle. Which car you buy makes a significant difference to your life, but virtually zero difference to shareholders of the automaker, so buy whatever car you want instead of spiting yourself.
- bdangubic 2y agoWhich car you buy makes a significant difference to your life, but virtually zero difference to shareholders of the automaker while this is true for a single person, of course the opposite is true if there is a significant movement (like the one that appears we are experiencing) if significant number of people stay away from a certain car brand. also, on the personal note - I am a Tesla owner and have planned on replacing my 11-year Tesla S with a new Model Y, my wife said “over my dead body” :) hence, even on personal side the car buying can be a moral issue - not necessarily thinking “CEO will soon be homeless due to my purchase of lucid vs model y” but "I won't contribute a single penny to perhaps one of the most vile human beings that currently walks on Earth
- hatmike05 2y agoTesla is a battery company propped up on tax credits. The cars never came close to profitability. Now that the tax credits are gone/going and there are competitors for the battery space, there is no reasonable path forward, which is why we're seeing a taxi that'll never happen, a truck that isn't very good at truck, and a mechanical Turk serving drinks.
- EasyMark 2y agoThat's what happens when you alienate (Elienate?) your biggest group of customers, especially for EV. It's only a shame the sales haven't dropped off a similar amount here in the USA, but I think that may be coming. I don't even know why he wants to be the punching bag for the President's critics while Trump takes all the credit and nearly none of the blame even though this is all under his marching orders..