Tesla Sales Fall in Germany and U.K. to Lowest Point in 2 Years

Tesla sales in Germany and Britain fell to their lowest point in more than two years in April, cementing a wider trend of Europeans shunning the U.S. automaker, despite growing demand for battery-powered vehicles in Europe.

Registrations of new Tesla vehicles dropped nearly 46 percent in Germany and 62 percent in Britain from a year earlier, although both countries reported increases in the number of electric vehicles sold in the same period, according to statistics released on Tuesday.

Other European countries reported similar drops in demand for Tesla’s products, with new registrations in Sweden plunging more than 80 percent, while demand in France fell more than 59 percent.

Some experts have pointed out that deliveries of the newest version of Tesla’s popular Model Y have not begun fully rolling out in Europe, which could be contributing to the decline.

But others say the latest numbers are proof that the backlash against President Trump’s tariffs, which is fueling a European push to shun U.S. products, and anger at Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, for supporting far-right parties, are taking their toll.

“European April data is strongly indicating that this is more than a model changeover blip, and Tesla’s European issues are more deeply rooted and stemming from Mr. Musk,” said Matthias Schmidt, an analyst who covers the European auto market at Schmidt Automotive Research.

Britain has especially been a hot spot for anti-Musk satire and art, helping to fuel the pushback against the American brand, which once dominated electric car sales across much of Europe.

Norway, where Tesla has played an essential role in helping the country reach its goal of having all new vehicles sold be emission-free by the end of this year, was an outlier. Registrations there of the Model Y increased in April.

But more than half of those were for used cars, not the latest updated Juniper version, according to the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council. It noted that Tesla saw its share of the market, which it long dominated, slip to 11 percent, down from 18 percent at the same time last year.

“Tesla is nowhere near the level we are used to, you can’t pretend otherwise,” said Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of the council.

Chinese-made electric vehicles continued to grow in popularity in Europe. BYD, for example, recorded an increase of 755 percent for April in Germany, despite the European Union’s 27 percent import tariffs. In Britain, where the E.U. tariff does not apply, the Chinese company’s sales increased 311 percent.

Germany’s Volkswagen has also seen a recovery in Europe, with increased demand for its battery-powered vehicles and sales more than doubling in the first quarter of the year.

“The tide appears to have turned at Tesla, and Europe at least appears to be moving on, or back to legacy manufacturers that have caught up,” Mr. Schmidt said.

Last month, after Tesla reported a profit drop of 71 percent in the first three months of the year, Mr. Musk, said he would spend less time in Washington and focus more on managing his companies.