Dramatic figures.
And it is not an exaggeration. It is the confirmation that something is not going well with Tesla’s sales in Europe. We already know that the first month of each quarter is usually especially bad for the company. October, the tenth of the year, has been particularly disastrous.
A year to forget. If we add up Tesla’s sales in Europe so far this year, the reported figures are bad. In the first nine months of the year (now we will tell why we took this figure), Elon Musk’s company sold 173,694. A far cry from last year’s 242,976 units at the end of the third quarter. Specifically, 28.5% less.
The figures are especially worrying for Tesla because the electric car market share grew in the same period from 13.1% to 16.1%. Therefore, its total market share has decreased from 2.5% in September 2024 to 1.7%. The market share hit among electric cars should, therefore, be much greater.
Dramatic October. But October has been a dramatic month for Tesla. In the absence of having the data for the sum of all the European markets that ACEA, the employers’ association, will not present until the last week of November, we do know the results in the main European markets.
Pay attention to the records it shows Electrek:
- Germany: 750 units and -53.5% compared to last year.
- Italy: 256 units and -47.1% compared to last year
- Netherlands: 645 units and -47.9% compared to last year
- Norway: 671 units and -50.2% compared to last year
- Portugal: 144 units and -58.7% compared to last year
- Austria: 97 units and -64.5% compared to last year
- Finland: 47 units and -67.6% compared to last year
- Sweden: 133 units and -88.7% compared to last year
- Denmark: 102 units and -86% compared to last year
¿Spain? In Spain, Tesla has saved the furniture… and it has fallen by more than 30%. We say this because the company, between January and October 2025, has sold 7.58% more than last year. It is a clearly insufficient figure, taking into account that electric cars in Spain have increased by 86%, according to ANFAC data.
All in all, Tesla continues to lead the top two positions among the best-selling electric cars in our country. Of course, what was once an overwhelming leadership is now a much tighter battle. As of October, Tesla has sold 7,722 units of the Model 3 and, much more worrying for the company, 4,924 units of the Model Y.
This is striking because the Kia EV3 is already fighting head-to-head with the Tesla Model Y to be the second best-selling electric car of the year in Spain. The BYD Dolphin Surf, which arrived in May 2025, is already in 2,796 units and is the fifth best-selling electric car in Spain. Between the two, the Renault 5 but it has been adding units all year. BYD’s small electric car has sold 846 units this past month. That’s 791 more units than the Tesla Model 3 has registered.
The first month. And Tesla has only added 55 units of the Model 3 in our country in October 2025. This is explained because the first months of each quarter (January-April-July-October) tend to be especially bad. The bulk of units of cars arriving from China, such as the Tesla Model 3, arrive and are accumulated to be sold in the last month of each quarter.
The problematic thing for Tesla is that the registration figures are dismal even in that famous first month of the quarter. In Spain, the Tesla Model Y that dominated with an iron fist was the seventh best-selling car in October. And BYD alone sold more units of the Dolphin Surf in Spain than all the Teslas sold in Germany, a much larger market with greater penetration of the electric car.
The last quarter. It remains to be seen if Tesla manages to recover some ground in the last quarter, if it sinks a little more or, at least, disguises the results. Because it seems impossible that it will be able to compensate for a drop that at the end of the first three quarters exceeds 30%.
It must be taken into account that rivals are tightening and eating up market share. Not only do traditional rivals have more supply and more competitive prices than years ago, BYD has expanded its presence in numerous markets and, according to SCMPBetween January and September 2025, the Chinese company accumulated almost 25,000 units throughout Europe. It is five times more than those registered in the same period of the previous year. It is very likely that it will not be enough to surpass Tesla this year, but it is likely that it will be close.
Photo | Prometheus
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