Tesla loses market share in Europe despite rising demand for electric cars

E-car Situation Tesla Increasingly Unattractive—VW Rises in Favor

2025-06-02 Source: dpa | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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According to recent analyses, U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla is unable to capitalize on the upswing in the European electric vehicle market. VW vehicles and others are making strong gains.

The electric vehicle market is picking up again. Volkswagen (pictured is the planned affordable "ID.Every1") and BYD from China are particularly benefiting from this. Tesla, on the other hand, appears outdated...(Image: Volkswagen) — The electric vehicle market is picking up again. Volkswagen (pictured is the planned affordable "ID.Every1") and BYD from China are particularly benefiting from this. Tesla, on the other hand, appears outdated...
(Image: Volkswagen)

In April, Tesla had to endure yet another setback. Once again, new registrations in the European Union plummeted, according to dpa. This time, by more than half, as data from the European Manufacturers' Association Acea shows. After the first four months of the year, Tesla must contend with a decline of about 46 percent. New registrations dropped to 41,677 cars. While the EU car market overall is stagnant this year, especially in electric vehicles, it is strongly recovering after last year's weakness. This is an additional bitter pill for Elon Musk's business. In the first four months, 15.3 percent of new registrations in the EU were pure battery vehicles. A year earlier, it was only 12 percent. In unit numbers, the growth was over 25 percent.

Tesla Under Pressure from VW and BYD

Tesla is evidently coming under increasing pressure in a market for which Musk set up camp with the so-called Gigafactory in Grünheide (Germany), near Berlin, investing billions. Now, Volkswagen, with doubled electric car deliveries, is gaining momentum and leaving Tesla far behind. Additionally, Chinese electric car world market leader BYD (Build Your Dreams) is hot on Musk's heels. And that’s not all; BYD has already surpassed Tesla in Europe in pure battery cars. According to data from market researchers at Jato Dynamics, this happened in April. However, the proportion of private buyers for the Chinese is rather low (12 percent). VW comes to 26 percent and Mercedes even to 37 percent. Nio and Xpeng are still minor players in Germany, but the question is, for how long?

Affordable Electric Cars are Ready

BYD last week introduced its electric compact car, the Dolphin Surf. This electric vehicle is available at an introductory price of 19,990 euros (22,842.57 USD). Politicians and, not least, potential buyers have long demanded more affordable electric cars so that electromobility can spread among regular consumers. Meanwhile, VW's announced affordable compact car counterpart, the "ID.Every1," which will also be in this price range, is expected to launch later.

Slated to hit the market in 2027—an opportunity for BYD. BYD also aims to strengthen local service to win over German buyers. For this, they plan to collaborate with third parties. In addition, BYD invested in its own production facilities in Hungary and Turkey.

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