By Anthony Henson, September 2, 2025
Tesla’s latest sales slump across Europe is not merely about competition from BYD or the missteps of Elon Musk. It reflects a deeper contradiction at the heart of corporate America. Tesla, once the poster child for innovation, is now squeezed by new entrants offering cheaper models and by traditional automakers flooding the EV space.
Tesla’s sales decline continued across much of Europe in August, with sharp drops in France (–47%), Sweden (–84%), the Netherlands (–50%), Denmark (–42%) and Italy (–4.4%). Growth in Norway (+21%), Spain (+161%) and Portugal (+29%) offered some relief, but rival BYD far outpaced Tesla, with gains of +218% in Norway and +400% in Spain.
Tesla’s ageing product line shows how corporations, driven by short-term profit maximisation, often fail to reinvest adequately in innovation. Meanwhile, Musk’s political entanglements — his funding of Donald Trump and support for Europe’s far right — have exposed another vulnerability of corporate America: when leadership is concentrated in the hands of billionaire personalities, the brand becomes hostage to their politics.
Consumers are pushing back, not just against Musk, but against the arrogance of a company that insisted “there are no issues” even as its market share fell. Finally, the crash in used Tesla prices demonstrates how speculative capitalism destabilises its own markets.
CEO Elon Musk’s political activity and polarising public persona are fueling consumer backlash, while Tesla’s aggressive price cuts since 2023 have depressed used-car values, undermining new sales. Used Tesla sales in the U.K. surged 270% in July, with average Model Y prices down 41% year-over-year.
Price cuts designed to stimulate new sales end up devaluing older cars, punishing loyal customers, and undermining the brand itself. Tesla’s decline in Europe is not simply about poor strategy — it’s an object lesson in how capitalist competition eats its own.
Overall, Tesla’s European market share fell to 1.7% in the first half of 2025, down from 2.5% a year earlier.