Tesla Sales In April Of 2025 Continue To Disappoint

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Last Updated on: 16th May 2025, 06:40 pm

Sales data for April 2025 is now in, and the skies over Tesla continue to get darker. The company steadfastly refuses to release sales figures by country and only reports total sales on a quarterly basis, which means official numbers are not expected until the first week of July. But many countries report new registration data on a monthly basis, which allows a fairly clear picture of the state of their market.

We begin this report with the latest data from China, where Tesla has its largest factory near the port city of Shanghai. According to Car News China, EV sales in that country continue to accelerate. 559,000 battery-electric cars were sold in China in April, which is a 38% increase from 405,000 cars sold in the same month a year ago. Tesla sold 28,731 cars in China in April, which was a decrease of 8.6% compared to April of 2024, but that is not the big news. Tesla’s market share in China plunged from 11.5% in March to 5.1% in April as the rest of the Chinese EV market surged higher.

What really shows how far the company has fallen in the Chinese market — which is vital to its financial wellbeing — is this stat: Tesla sales in China were off 62.1% from March of this year, when it sold 78,828 cars. Sales of the Model Y, which is by far the best selling car for Tesla, dropped 24% to 19,984 units. A year ago, Tesla sold 26,356 Model Y vehicles in April. Tesla’s exports in April were off about 3% compared to the same month last year.

It should be pointed out that the recent refreshes to the aging Model 3 and Model Y are now in full production in Shanghai, so the excuse Tesla fans have been giving for the past few months that the refreshes will propel sales to new levels appears to be more hopium than fact. As one person recently fired by Tesla said this week, the refreshed vehicles are distinctive enough visually that they are easily identified, which means drivers can no longer slap bumper stickers on them saying they purchased them before they knew Elon was crazy. That train has now left the station.

Car News China did a bit of editorializing when it reported the April sales figures for Tesla. Here is the Editor’s Comment that accompanied that story:

“While Tesla’s sales slump in Europe and other regions is mainly attributed to public dissatisfaction with its CEO, Elon Musk, in China, Musk is barely a topic. The reason is that there is simply too much competition against Tesla. The Model 3 sedan has been in trouble for several years, and even the refresh didn’t change that trend. Too many affordable and fierce sedans wanted to eat their lunch: BYD Seal, Zeekr 007, Nio ET5, Xpeng P7, Xiaomi SU7, and dozens others.

“Thus, Tesla China sales were highly dependent on a single model — its SUV Model Y, which resisted quite well, despite facing models such as Xpeng G6, Onvo L60, Li Auto L6, BYD Sealion 7 or Zeekr 7X. In 2024, its sold 480,309 units in China and was responsible for 73% of Tesla’s sales. But it seems the fame of the US automaker’s stronghold is fading away now as competition in Middle Kingdom is simply too much.

“On one hand, China EV startups fighting for survival put pressure on price, on the other they innovate at ‘China speed,’ making the new model development cycle 2–3 years, offering 800V charging (Tesla still has 400V architecture on Model Y and Model 3), connectivity, ADAS and also a bit of patriotism as young Chinese buyers don’t have fear of buying Chinese products like their parents, who still remember the 90s. The lack of new models is finally hurting Tesla in China.”

Tesla Sales In Free Fall In EU & UK

I have been criticized for daring to imply that the UK is not part of Europe, and for that I most humbly apologize. As someone who lives on the westerly side of the Atlantic Ocean, I tend to associate Europe with the European Union and ever since the UK gave the EU the Flying Fickle Finger Of Fate Award, it has corrupted my concept of the region. Mea culpa. But no matter how you slice it, the latest Tesla sales numbers from the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands amount to a gut punch to the company. The only bright spot was Norway, where the Model Y topped the sales charts last month.

Using data compiled from the national sources of those countries, Yahoo reports the following sales information for April:

• Spain: −36%
• Germany: −46%
• Belgium: −55%
• France: −59%
• UK: −62%
• Denmark: −69%
• Netherlands: −74%
• Sweden: −81%

The sales data from the UK and Germany is especially devastating. In the UK, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders auto trade group reported only 512 new Tesla registrations while in Germany, where Tesla built its first European factory, the KBA trade group reported only 885 new Teslas were registered in April, according to a report by Yahoo.

Amidst all this unpleasant news about plummeting sales, Tesla stock continues its upward climb, as apparently nothing can dampen the enthusiasm of Tesla shareholders for the future of the company, even though Robyn Denholm, the chair of the Tesla board of directors, has cashed in stock worth nearly $200 million lately.

When insiders start dumping their holdings, smart people tend to hit the pause button, but the Great and Powerful Musk is in the Middle East this week, where he is spinning tales of robotaxis crisscrossing the Sinai Peninsular via a network of tunnels created by The Boring Company.

Musk simply doesn’t know how to shut off the hype machine he has created. He is a world class illusionist who constantly diverts attention away from any bad news by diverting attention to the next new thing, which will surely be arriving “soon.” That word, in Musk-speak, could mean this decade or this century, but certainly before Halley’s Comet makes its next pass near the Earth.

What most savvy investors are waiting for is the next Tesla earnings call, when the company will disclose its earnings for the second quarter and the first half of 2025. The Q1 results were disappointing, but were brushed off as an aberration because buyers were waiting for the refresh of the Model Y to become widely available. The Tesla faithful won’t have that excuse to fall back on in July, but they will surely find some other magical realism to justify their continuing faith in Tesla and its Dear Leader.