By Jesus Calero
(Reuters) -Tesla’s sales in Europe fell 49% in April from a year earlier, even though battery-electric car sales rose 27.8%, as the U.S. EV maker’s upgrade of its Model Y shows little sign of reviving the brand’s fortunes in the region.
Overall car sales in Europe dipped 0.3%, with the strongest growth coming from electric and plug-in hybrid cars, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association ( ACEA (BIT: ACE )) showed.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA )’s European sales fell for the fourth straight month, as a backlash against CEO Elon Musk’s political views combined with a tepid reception for the new Model Y and heightened competition from European and Chinese players.
Tesla’s European market share dropped to just 0.7% from 1.3% a year ago.
European carmakers are striving to cut costs amid stiff competition, U.S. tariffs on auto imports, and a slowing global economy, with the outlook uncertain despite eased U.S.-China trade tensions.
BY THE NUMBERS
April sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association fell to 1.07 million cars, following 2.8% growth in March, the ACEA data showed.
Registrations at Chinese state-owned SAIC Motor and Japan’s Mitsubishi rose 24.5% and 22.1% respectively, while they fell 24.5% at Japan’s Mazda.
In the EU alone - not including Britain and the EFTA - total car sales have fallen 1.2% so far this year.
That is despite continued growth in demand for EVs, with registrations of battery-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid-electric (HEV) cars rising 26.4%, 7.8% and 20.8% respectively.
EV sales in the bloc - whether BEV, HEV or PHEV - accounted for 59.2% of passenger car registrations in April, up from 47.7% in the previous year.
Among the largest EU markets, total car sales in Spain and Italy increased by 7.1% and 2.7% respectively, while in France and Germany they dropped by 5.6% and 0.2%.
In Britain, registrations were down 10.4%.