Tesla Is Losing To Volkswagen’s EVs In Europe

For years, Tesla’s overinflated share price has been backed by two things: The cult of personality around the company’s CEO and not-founder, Elon Musk, and its position as the world’s biggest electric automaker. The Model Y even became Europe’s best-selling car back in 2023, giving weird nerds something to point to when you asked why the company was worth nearly as much as every other automaker put together. 

Now, though, the tide is turning for Tesla. Its CEO is no longer seen as an engineering whiz using his ideas for the good of mankind, but instead as a political hatchet man tasked with fundamentally altering the federal government of the United States. Tesla sales, too, are circling the drain. Now, according to new-vehicle registration data out of Europe, the entire Tesla fleet is losing out to Volkswagen’s EVs. 

Tesla’s sales in Europe slid 38% in the first quarter of 2025, according to analyst firm JATO, placing the brand beneath a surging Volkswagen for BEV registrations. Tesla moved 53,237 units in Q1, while Volkswagen sold 65,679 electric vehicles during the same period — a 157% increase from its BEV sales for the same period last year. The Model Y remains the best-selling EV, but it’s far from the best-selling car. In fact, it’s not even in the top 10. 

Tesla did take Volkswagen in EV sales for the month of March, but the numbers — 27,828 for Tesla and 25,544 for Volkswagen — mark a decline for Tesla and a massive increase for VW. If those trends continue, Tesla could easily be overtaken by third-place seller BMW. 

Tesla and Volkswagen are still neck and neck for EV sales, but even being in that position is a massive blow to Tesla ahead of its earnings call tonight. A sales slump is likely already priced in to the stock, but this trend — losing out to Volkswagen and facing competition from BMW — cats a dark shadow over the company’s future. Whether it’s due to Tesla’s aging lineup, or people’s general reaction to the CEO’s politics, one thing looks clear: Musk has played stupid games with his car company, and is now winning stupid prizes. 

h/t Motor1