Tesla’s European sales slump has continued, as it faces rising competition in the battery-powered electric car market.
Sales figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association this morning show that Tesla shipments tumbled 40% last month. The company sold 8,837 vehicles across the EU, the EFTA trade block and the UK in July, down from 14,769 in July 2024.
The sales slump, which began at the start of this year, continued despite the recent revamp of Tesla’s signature Model Y, indicating that the backlash against the chief executive Elon Musk’s political views could still be hurting the company.
Musk’s recent breakup with Donald Trump has not, yet, revived the company’s fortunes. July’s 40% sales fall was worse than the total for 2025 to date, which is down 33% for the January-July period.
Tesla also faces rising competition, particularly from Chinese manufacturers. BYD, the Shenzhen-headquartered carmaker, more than tripled its sales year on year in July, up from 4,151 a year earlier to 13,503 last month, a rise of 225%.
This gave BYD a 1.2% market share, higher than Tesla’s 0.8%.
BYD, which overtook Tesla for European sales back in April, recently launched its Dolphin Surf EV car, which is priced from £18,650 in the UK.
Elsewhere in the auto industry this morning, data shows that Britain’s car production grew for the second month in a row in July.
Car production rose 5.6% in July from last year to 69,127 units, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported.
However, total vehicle production dropped by 10.8% at 72,006 units because of a fall in commercial vehicle manufacturing.
Today’s key events
• 10am BST: eurozone confidence data
• 1.30pm BST: US Q2 GDP (second estimate)
• 1.30pm BST: US weekly jobless claims
We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day on our business live blog …
