COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Tesla sales in some European markets fell sharply in April, in an acceleration of a trend seen since the beginning of the year for Elon Musk’s EV brand, as Europeans buy more Chinese cars and some protest against his political views.
Tesla’s new car sales in April fell by 80.7% in Sweden, national data showed on Friday, a day after Denmark recorded a 67.2% drop in Tesla sales and France reported a 59.4% fall, its fourth straight month of sales contraction.
In Sweden, this was the lowest figure since October 2022, when 43 new Teslas were registered, data from Mobility Sweden showed.
The group’s European sales dropped 28.2% in March as it faces a number of challenges in the continent. Tesla is facing increased competition from traditional automaker rivals, while new Chinese entrants are launching new and often cheaper EVs.
Musk’s embrace of far-right politics in Europe has also led to protests against the billionaire CEO and the company, as well as vandalism at its showrooms and charging stations across the U.S. and Europe.
Other European countries, including Italy and Norway, will release April car sales data on Friday.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Alessandro Parodi, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Jane Merriman)
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