Investor hopes of a rebound following Elon Musk’s departure from Doge have been dashed, as European sales of Tesla EVs continue to plummet.

Data from the the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association shows that Tesla sales fell by another huge margin in May in 30 European countries, despite an 25 percent increase in the electric vehicle market.

The data shows that Tesla electric vehicle sales in Europe fell to 8,729 units in May, down 40.5 percent from 14,682 units shipped in May 2024.

European sales

And in the five months from January to May 2025, Tesla shipped a total of 50,413 units in Europe.

But this was down 45.2 percent from the 91,996 units shipped in the same five month period in 2024.

It seems that Chinese EV makers are more in demand than Tesla EVs. Sales of BYD EVs in April had overtaken Tesla for the first time for example.

Tesla’s poor showing in Europe comes after Elon Musk had promised a “major rebound” was coming last month, which had helped pushed Tesla’s share price up, amid a buying frenzy among investors happy at Musk’s exit from the Trump administration.

Tesla’s share price is trading at $328 on Thursday afternoon, after it had dropped 4 percent on Wednesday to as low as $322.

Tesla’s share price in December 2024 had been trading at $454, but has fallen ever since.

Musk had hoped that a refresh of the Tesla Model Y, coupled with a retooling of its factories, would help convince consumers to return to the Tesla brand.

But last month it was reported that the refreshed version of Tesla’s flagship Model Y compact electric SUV appeared to be facing slow consumer demand, despite attractive financing offers and high availability.

Brand damage

Tesla was once the leading player in electric car sales, but in April it has been overtaken by 10 rivals including Volkswagen, BMW, Renault and Chinese maker BYD.

It should be remembered that Tesla’s first-quarter earnings in late April had revealed a 20 percent fall in automotive revenues, while profits had plummeted a staggering 71 percent.

Tesla’s decline is being largely blamed on Elon Musk’s actions, as well as an ageing product line.

Tesla is also sitting on 10,000 unsold Cybertrucks that has cost it roughly $800 million, and resale values of the slab side vehicles have plummeted.

Musk’s support of Donald Trump (despite their recent falling out), coupled with his support of far right causes, and political interventions in foreign countries, have taken a hefty toll on Tesla, with some analysts warning of significant self-inflicted brand damage.

In March Electrek for example reported that Tesla as a brand could be finished in Germany (one of the largest EV markets in Europe), after T-Online conducted a survey of over 100,000 Germans which revealed that 94 percent of respondents will not buy a Tesla vehicle ever again.

Also in March data from by US car shopping site Edmunds showed that owners have been trading in their Tesla vehicles at record levels.