Tesla and particular its owner Elon Musk, are rarely out of the news these days, but for all the publicity, the company has not managed to translate this into showroom sales. 

January sales figures show massive sales drops in many countries, with UK sales down 18.2% on 2024, France down 63.4% and Spain down 75.4%. Overall European sales were almost 50% down month on month. Ireland did buck the trend with Tesla sales up from 71 in January 2024 to 143 this year. However, the company sits only 25th in the manufacturer table, one place behind Porsche.  

Observers are placing the blame for the sales slump mainly on the “Musk effect”. In particular Elon Musk’s increasingly right wing rants and his support for climate crisis sceptic Donald Trump has not gone down well with green leaning European EV buyers. 

Poor stock availability has also been highlighted as an issue, as is the lack of different trim option for the newly launched 2025 Model Y.