Tesla sales fall in key European markets but set record in Norway

A Model X sports-utility vehicle sits outside a Tesla store. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Tesla registrations fell in some key European markets in December, but surged in Norway confirming a trend of record sales in Europe’s EV trailblazer while the U.S. automaker’s market share crumbled across the rest of the region in 2025.

Elon Musk’s EV brand has seen slowing sales in Europe since late 2024 due to growing competition, its aging lineup and protests against Musk’s public praise of European right-wing political figures. It is also expected to report a sharp drop in global fourth-quarter delivery numbers later on Friday.

Despite the launch of cheaper versions of Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3 across Europe, its business has not yet recovered.

In France, Europe’s third-biggest car market after Germany and Britain, Tesla registrations - a proxy for sales - slumped 66 per cent last month to 1,942 vehicles, data from French car body PFA showed on Thursday.

Registrations fell 37 per cent in France in 2025 as a whole.

In Sweden, Tesla registrations fell 71 per cent to 821 vehicles in December leading to a 70 per cent drop in 2025, according to Mobility Sweden.

They also dropped in Portugal and Spain, by 13 per cent to 1,207 cars and 44 per cent to 1,794 respectively, official data showed. For 2025 as a whole, sales fell 22 per cent in Portugal and four per cent in Spain.

Up to November, Tesla’s market share across Europe, Britain and the European Free Trade Association was down to 1.7 per cent from 2.4 per cent in the same period of 2024, even as total battery-electric sales reached 18.8 per cent of the market.

However in Norway, Tesla registrations jumped 89 per cent in December from a year earlier to 5,679 vehicles, registration data showed.

The brand had a market share of over 19 per cent in the country in 2025, setting a new annual sales record and benefiting from almost all of Norway’s new car sales being electric.

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, Marie Mannes and Javi West Larrañaga, editing by Terje Solsvik and Susan Fenton)