Tesla (TSLA) registration data in key European regions fell again in March, another sign that sales are continuing to slide in one of its key markets. This comes after Tesla’s stock tumbled in the first quarter, its worst quarter in more than two years.
In France, only 3,157 Tesla EVs were registered in the country, down 36.8% from a year ago, per official data cited by Reuters. Norway saw only 2,211 registrations, down 63.9%. Sweden’s tally of 911 was only down 1%.
Tesla’s registrations are a close proxy for sales, which the company only reports quarterly and does not break out by region.
Also in Scandinavia, usually a stronghold of EV sales, Denmark’s Tesla registrations dropped to 593, down 65.6%, and the Netherlands saw 1,536, a drop of 61% compared to last year.
For the first quarter, registrations were down 41.1% in France, 55.3% in Sweden, 12.5% in Norway, 55.3% in Denmark, and 49.7% in the Netherlands, per Reuters.
While official Tesla first quarter sales data will be released perhaps as early as Wednesday, dropping sales in Europe, China, and the US portend a difficult Q1 for the EV maker. Tesla is expected to report Q1 deliveries of 390,342, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
Even more of a concern is that the new updated Model Y, which went on sale in March in those regions, did not appear to move the needle for Tesla.
The new data comes after the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) reported Tesla’s February registrations in the EU, UK, and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) fell 40.1% in February, to 16,888 EVs. Over the span of January and February, Tesla EV registrations are down 42.6% (26,619).
Meanwhile, the ACEA reports total EV registrations are up for those regions, hitting 164,646 units, an increase of 26.1% compared to a year ago and up 31.4% including January (330,584).
CEO Elon Musk’s tumbling popularity in both the US and Europe, where his political endorsements of far-right movements have alienated a wide swath of EV-interested buyers, may be weighing on sales.
Even in China, its second-most-important region, Tesla’s shipments fell to 30,688 in February, plunging 49% compared to a year ago, per Bloomberg News, and are down more than half compared to January (63,238). Meanwhile, wholesale sales of new energy vehicles in China for the month hit 840,000 units, up 82% compared to last year.
Weakness in sales across its main regions, as well as protests and vandalism both in the US and abroad in response to Musk’s antics, are weighing heavily on shares.
Tesla stock fell 36% in the first quarter, its worst quarterly performance since the end of 2022 when the stock tumbled over 50%, per CNBC. At the time, Musk sold a huge portion of his Tesla stake to purchase Twitter, now known as X.com.
