Tesla Sales in Europe Drop to Low

Sales of Tesla electric cars in Europe have fallen by 45 percent, Bloomberg reports , citing data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

Sales in the region fell to a two-year low in January, with Elon Musk's company selling just 9,945 vehicles, down from 18,161 a year earlier. Meanwhile, electric vehicle sales rose 37 percent across the industry.

Tesla registered just 1,277 new cars in Germany in the month, the lowest since July 2021. Sales in France fell 63 percent, the worst since August 2022. In the UK , Tesla registered fewer cars than China's BYD. The local market grew 42 percent, while Musk's company's results fell 8 percent.

Analysts attribute the weak sales to a shortage of inventory in some markets due to the transition to the new Model Y design. Earlier, CFO Vaibhav Taneja warned that the lineup refresh would cost the manufacturer several weeks of downtime.

A week earlier, shares of the American electric car manufacturer Tesla fell 6.34 percent to $328.5 on the NASDAQ exchange amid news that its main Chinese competitor BYD had introduced DeepSeek artificial intelligence. Investors fear that Musk's company is lagging behind its competitors. Tesla has been falling in price for five trading sessions in a row, during which time the securities have lost almost 17 percent. The company's value has fallen by more than 200 billion.