Despite being a global top-seller in 2020, some experts have suggested that Tesla’s electric vehicle (EV) sales may be on the decline.
Tesla’s market share in Europe plummeted last month, dropping by more than 5% year-over-year in January 2021, with just 1,619 registrations in Europe this year compared to 1,977 in 2020, according to automotive analyst Matthias Schmidt (via Market Watch).
Overall, Volkswagen sold the most EVs in Europe in 2021, with 10,193 registrations in 18 European markets, accounting for over 22% of the region’s market share.
These figures represent 18 European markets which include the European Union states without 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and also including the United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland.
Tesla’s trajectory in Europe is in decline.
The U.S. car maker delivered 1,619 battery-electric vehicles to 18 key European markets in January, representing 3.5% of all battery-electric vehicles registered that month https://t.co/O6wk2v07Qq
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) March 1, 2021
According to Schmidt, Tesla’s January performance in Europe was “consistently low,” while also mentioning that the company’s delivery schedule usually sees peak volumes at the end of each quarter. Based on a 12-month rolling sales volume, Schmidt found Tesla to have fallen behind the likes of Hyundai and Kia in the European market.
Another important mention is the backdrop of Europe’s biggest year in EV sales yet – with 1.33 million EV registrations throughout Europe in 2020, the region even beat out China’s 1.25 million in the same year.
But in January, China topped Europe to reclaim its title as the world’s largest EV market, seeing 179,000 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles registered, while there were only 110,000 in Europe.
Regardless, EVs are on the rise worldwide, and it begs the question of what Tesla’s role in the global market will be. While the company has no doubt had a major role in the mainstream worldwide adoption of EVs, it’s tough to say whether it has already seen its peak, or if it will continue to dominate the global market in years to come.
