Tesla’s Europe Sales Plunge 49%

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As part of a slide that has gone on for months, Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) EU, UK, and EFTA registrations (the proxy for sales) dropped 49% in October to 6,964. Registrations of its arch-rival, China-based BYD, jumped 207% to 17,470. Tesla has lost a large share of the EV market in the region, and it may not regain it. Aside from BYD, every one of the region's largest legacy car companies is pressing to sell EVs. The data comes from the Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

Quick Read

• Tesla Trouble In Europe All Year

• Also Trouble In China

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Europe is not the only huge market where Tesla is in trouble. Tesla’s monthly sales in China hit a three-year low in October at 26,006. Dozens of local EV companies are swarming it. Some will not be in business in a year, but they are still putting price pressure on competitors. China is the world’s largest EV market by far.

Tesla’s US market share dropped to 45% early this year. In 2019, it was 80%. And for the time being, it has no Chinese competitors in America due to tariffs. As in Europe, legacy car companies have moved aggressively into EVs, even though it has cost them tens of billions of dollars.

The drop in Tesla’s sales worldwide means CEO Elon Musk must convince the market that Tesla is a robotics and AI company that will produce the first fully autonomous car and a robotaxi. Tesla already has stiff US competition in the self-driving car business in the US, led by Alphabet’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Waymo

So far, Musk’s strategy with investors has largely worked. After a collapse in April, Tesla’s stock is up 3% this year, although that is shy of the 14% increase for the S&P 500. Tesla also has an extraordinary market cap of $1.4 trillion, making it the 10th-most-valuable public company in the world.

Maybe Europe doesn’t matter.

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