Elon Musk’s escapades are costing Tesla market share

According to the latest figures from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority, Tesla suffered a lot last year. No other electric car brand has in the neighboring country lost so much sales How Tesla. New registrations fell by a good 26,000 to just under 38,000. This corresponded to a market share of 9.9 percent. As a result, Elon Musk’s company slipped from second to third place in the German market for battery electric vehicles (BEV).

From electric car pioneer to political bully

She was still at the top in 2022. Experts recently explained the car manufacturer’s weakness with, among other things, one thing Imageproblemwhich also applies to majority owner Musk and his political commitment goes back. Musk supports the future US president Donald Trump. Under him, Musk will lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

However, Musk, who has long been considered an electric car pioneer, does not seem to be concentrating on increasing efficiency in the USA. In Germany he openly promotes them right-wing radical party AfDin Great Britain he calls for the arrest of Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Through his social network to insult wildly. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Musk described it as “Idiot“For him, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a “tyrant”.

Shameful justification on the shock absorber

Musk’s manners are a reason for many Tesla owners to feel ashamed and justify their car brand. A sign of this is Bumper sticker (Bumper Sticker) with the wording “I bought this before Elon went crazy.” For some people the statement is still too mild, says Patrik Schneider, operator of an online shop for stickers, to Car-Editors Content. They then order stickers with “FCK ELN” or “Elon Sucks”.

A buyer of an anti-musk sticker on Amazon describes how the sticker attracts a lot of attention: “People have come up to me and told me how much they appreciate this sticker. Passing drivers point it out to me thumbs up.” A sticker seller from the USA tells Heatmap that sales of anti-Musk stickers have increased massively since the US presidential election.

New Tesla registrations are also declining in Austria

Driving a Tesla is like a MAGA cap “Make America Great Again” – Trump’s most famous slogan), says a driver. While a Tesla driver was previously a figurehead for the change towards climate-friendly mobility, many drivers now feel more ashamed. Surveys show that many people are even in favor of it morally reprehensible keep driving a Tesla.

Musk’s image problem could also be in Austria a factor for declining Tesla sales figures be. In 2023, over 8,400 Teslas were newly registered, and in 2024 there were around 7,600. The decline is therefore moderate compared to Germany.

Other electric car manufacturers are also suffering in Germany

Other brands there also suffered from weaker demand, especially Opel. 8,000 new registrations compared to 28,000 the year before are a bitter setback for the Stellantis subsidiary. When asked, the company explained the slump by saying that small cars like the Corsa Electric suffered much more abrupt stop of funding would have suffered as expensive models that were not previously eligible for funding. In addition, the SUV Grandland was not available as a battery version until a model change. Fiat and Hyundai also lost five figures.

Some brands were able to establish themselves in Germany against the downward trend lifting, among other things BMW. The company increased new BEV registrations by a good 1,600 to more than 40,000. That was enough to take second place from Tesla and increase market share by 4.1 points to 11.1. When it comes to electric cars, BMW has recently developed better internationally than its German competitors.

Skoda, Seat, Volvo or Porsche were also able to significantly increase their new registrations and market shares. Volvo achieved the largest increase with a good 5,000 BEVs, although with a total of less than 14,000 cars at a low level. VW can significantly increase its market share from 13.5 to 16.3 percent and its Top position consolidate. However, new registrations fell by 8,500 to 62,000. Because the overall market is shrinking more rapidly, the share is still increasing.