Sales of new Tesla cars almost halved in Europe last month, indicating waning demand for the US carmaker’s vehicles as its chief executive Elon Musk intervened repeatedly in the politics on both sides of the Atlantic.
The tech billionaire, a close adviser to the US president, has become a vocal supporter of Germany’s far-right AfD party in recent months, and described it in January as the “best hope for the future” in Germany.
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, joined the Norwegian, British and German leaders in early January in responding to a barrage of hostile social media posts by Musk backing far-right political parties and criticising leftwing politicians in Europe.
Tesla sold 1,277 new cars last month in Germany, its lowest monthly total since July 2021, according to Bloomberg calculations.
The slump came as the European market for new battery-electric cars grew by 34% to 124,341 units, capturing a 15% share of the total car market, the figures from the ACEA showed.
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