The latest new car sales figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) underscore the scale of the crisis facing Elon Musk and Tesla in Europe.

The ACEA data revealed that Tesla sold 7,261 cars in Europe, the UK, and a number of other European countries in April 2025, down 49 percent from the 14,228 Teslas that were sold in April 2024.

When just the 27 European Union nations are considered, things are even worse, with Tesla sales down a staggering 52.6 percent to 5,475 from the 11,540 Teslas sold in April 2024.

Sales collapse

And this decline is not because of a overall decline in EV sales, as overall battery electric car sales actually rose 34.1 percent annually in April.

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.

Felipe Munoz from Jato Dynamics said earlier this week that the figures represented a “watershed moment” for Europe’s car market, since BYD only expanded its European operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022, while Tesla has dominated EV sales in the region for years.

The figures present Elon Musk and Tesla with a growing headache, and will trigger even more investor concern about the impact on Tesla’s upcoming Q2 financial results.

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 sales decline came despite US President Donald Trump turning the White House driveway into a Tesla showroom, when he publicly purchased a red Model S costing $80,000 for his staff to use.

Continuing decline

Earlier this month it was revealed that Tesla’s disastrous Q1 sales plunge in Europe had continued into the second quarter.

Monthly data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) showed that Tesla sales were down sharply in April in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal, as well Sweden and France.

Those figures came as Tesla’s board of directors had denied reports it had opened a search to replace Elon Musk, after it allegedly reached out to several executive search firms (aka headhunters) to begin a search for a new CEO.

Brand damage

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.

At Doge, Musk carried out a chaotic cost cutting exercise of federal departments, similar to when he had taken control of Twitter (now called X).

Musk had previously stated they would cut approximately $2 trillion from the federal budget and cut regulations.

However Doge’s website currently claims its cuts have only led to an estimated $175 billion in savings.

Musk said on the most recent Tesla earnings call that his time spent running Doge would drop significantly by the end of May, but that he plans to dedicate a “day or two per week” to government work.

The tech billionaire also added in a recent public speech that he is committed to leading Tesla for the next five years.

Far right

Musk’s support of Donald Trump, 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, 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 Tesla owners have been trading in their vehicles at record levels since Musk joined Trump’s Doge.

Earlier in April, Tesla had reported a 13 percent decline in first quarter deliveries from a year earlier, down to 336,681.