Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.
Or support our Kickstarter campaign!
I recently looked into Tesla’s January sales in 12 European markets, and the results were not pretty. Overall, across those 12 markets, Tesla’s sales were down 23%. However, one reader pointed out that it could be much more interesting going back two, three, or even four years. So, that’s what I’ve done today. However, for the most part, I’m focusing on looking back two years. Going further back, I lacked some data. Comparing to two years ago seemed ideal in multiple regards. Let’s dive in.
Tesla Sales Trends in 13 Countries
UK
- January 2024 — 1,591
- January 2025 — 1,450
- January 2026 — 714
- 55% drop from 2024 to 2026
Compared to January 2024, Tesla’s sales in the UK this January were 55% lower. That’s a massive drop in sales — especially if one recalls that Tesla was supposed to be achieving 50% growth a year, on average, this decade. But what about other markets? Perhaps the UK is presenting unique challenges to Tesla.
Germany
- January 2022 — 419
- January 2023 — 4,241
- January 2024 — 3,152
- January 2025 — 1,277
- January 2026 — 1,301
- 59% drop from 2024 to 2026, 69% drop from 2023 to 2026
Well, looking at Germany, an even bigger and more important market, the trend is even worse. Tesla’s January sales were down 59% this year compared to 2024, and down 69% compared to 2023. Surely, this is as bad as things will get for the company, though. And remember that Elon Musk got very involved in politics in the UK and Germany, pushing an extreme right-wing agenda in those countries. Perhaps that made the story in the UK and Germany especially bad.
Netherlands
- January 2023 — 592
- January 2024 — 1,619
- January 2025 — 927
- January 2026 — 303
- 81% drop from 2024 to 2026
Or the issue is broader…. As we can see here, in the Netherlands, Tesla’s sales were down 81% in January compared to January 2024! Yikes. (Compared to January 2023, at least, they were down “only” 49%.)
Norway
- January 2022 — 47
- January 2023 — 21
- January 2024 — 1,108
- January 2025 — 687
- January 2026 — 83
- 93% drop from 2024 to 2026
In Norway, Tesla’s sales drop climbed even higher! Down 93% compared to 2024, at last, we will not find another country where sales dropped more. To be fair, though, January 2024 stood out as a truly unusual sales month and January 2026 deliveries were actually up compared to January 2022 and January 2023.
Denmark
- January 2023 — 499
- January 2024 — 822
- January 2025 — 459
- January 2026 — 458
- 44% drop from 2024 to 2026
In Denmark, we find a 44% drop compared to January 2024, but only a slight drop (8%) compared to January 2023. Perhaps we’d see something more extreme, though, if Elon Musk decides to chime in on his buddy Trump’s idea to take Greenland for the United States.
Italy
- January 2023 — 326
- January 2024 — 390
- January 2025 — 406
- January 2026 — 710
- 82% rise from 2024 to 2026
Wow, at last, we find a country where Tesla’s sales rose in 2026 compared to 2024 — an 82% rise even.
Sweden
- January 2023 — 226
- January 2024 — 749
- January 2025 — 394
- January 2026 — 512
- 32% drop from 2024 to 2026, 127% rise from 2023 to 2026
In Sweden, where Tesla has a long-running battle underway with the union IF Metall, Tesla’s sales dropped 32% in January 2026 compared to January 2024. But they actually rose 127% compared to January 2023. Compared to other countries here, Tesla’s sales trend in Sweden isn’t actually that bad.
Portugal
- January 2023 — 230
- January 2024 — 549
- January 2025 — 389
- January 2026 — 377
- 31% drop from 2024 to 2026, 64% rise from 2023 to 2026
The story in Portugal is very similar, down 21% compared to 2024 but up 64% compared to 2023.
Spain
- January 2022 — 11
- January 2023 — 226
- January 2024 — 749
- January 2025 — 394
- January 2026 — 512
- 58% drop from 2024 to 2026, 28% rise from 2023 to 2026
… And in Spain, down 58% compared to 2024 and up 28% compared to 2023.
Switzerland
- January 2022 — 11
- January 2023 — 226
- January 2024 — 749
- January 2025 — 239
- January 2026 — 68
- 79% drop from 2024 to 2026
In Switzerland, we’re back to a pretty extreme sales drop — 79% compared to January 2024. Compared to January 2023, the drop was 41%.
Ireland
- January 2024 — 66
- January 2025 — 143
- January 2026 — 143
- 117% rise from 2024 to 2026
In Ireland, we find a rare sales increase, and a big one at that (in percentage terms at least). The 117% sales increase is the biggest we’re seeing for this time period.
Finland
- January 2023 — 49
- January 2024 — 169
- January 2025 — 58
- January 2026 — 224
- 33% rise from 2024 to 2026
Finland provided a rare boost as well, growing Tesla’s sales 33% compared to 2024, and 357% compared to January 2023.
Austria
- January 2023 — 373
- January 2024 — 391
- January 2025 — 227
- January 2026 — 723
- 85% rise from 2024 to 2026
This is a country we didn’t have data for when I did the year-over-year comparison, but we now do. It does help Tesla a bit since sales actually increased in this market compared to 2024. They rose 85%, and similarly rose 94% compared to January 2023.
Tesla’s 2-Year Sales Trend Across 13 European Countries
Overall, across these 13 markets, Tesla’s sales were down 49.49% in January 2026 compared to January 2024. We don’t have complete 2023 data for these markets, but things would have looked much better comparing 2026 to 2023. Nonetheless, losing half of one’s sales in two years is a big problem for a company, especially if that trend doesn’t seem to be reversing and there’s no clear reason why it would reverse in coming months and years.
Compared to January 2025, Tesla’s sales in 12 of these markets were down 23% in January 2026. Going back two years to January 2024, they were down 54%. (The -49% figure includes Austria, which wasn’t in the original analysis.) What will the full year bring for Tesla in Europe?
We will have our usual monthly report on the European EV market coming out soon in which we look more broadly across the continent collecting registration data that is harder to come by. Though, that won’t involve looking two or more years backward. It is this longer-term perspective, though, that shows how much Tesla is actually suffering and underperforming its hype and corporate story. Remember that Tesla was supposed to grow 50% a year, on average, this decade. And keep in mind that it’s also seen strongly dropping sales in China and the US, and thus globally.
Support CleanTechnica via Kickstarter
Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent.
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica's Comment Policy