Agency Report –
Berlin – Sales of new Tesla cars in Germany plunged by more than 75% in February, despite an overall rise in the number of electric cars on the road, according to data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
The data showed that 76.3% fewer new cars from tech billionaire Elon Musk’s company were newly registered compared to the same month last year. This corresponds to a total of 1,429 vehicles hitting German roads.
In January, Tesla’s new registrations had already fallen by almost 60% year-on-year, and throughout 2024, no electric car brand has seen such a significant drop in sales as Tesla.
Experts have suggested that Musk’s support for US President Donald Trump could become an image problem for the brand.
Another reason for the reluctance to buy could be that potential customers are waiting for the introduction of the revised Model Y.
Across all brands, sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) rose by 30.8% to 35,949 cars compared to February 2024.
Experts had expected an increase at the beginning of the year, as manufacturers postponed new BEV registrations from 2024 to 2025. In doing so, it seemed electric cars would be more appealing in light of stricter carbon dioxide (CO2) fleet limits that came into force at the beginning of the year.
Manufacturers now face penalties for excessive CO2 emissions.
Another reason for the increase could be the low level in the previous year, following the unexpected end of a subsidy for electric cars at the end of 2023.
Overall, 203,434 cars across all engines and segments were newly registered in February, down 6.4% compared to a year ago.
January had already seen a decline of 2.8%.
