A tripling of French Tesla registrations may sound impressive, but measured against 2023 it is essentially flat. By Stewart Burnett
Tesla recorded some noteworthy year-on-year gains in Europe during March 2026, with France up 203% to 9,569 units, Norway up 178% to 6,150, Sweden up 144% to 1,447, and more modest increases across Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain. The broad recovery follows a February in which European registrations returned to growth for the first time in over a year, driven by the rollout of refreshed, lower-priced versions of the Models Y and 3.
Tesla’s 2025 sales crash in Europe, during which its market share was cut by nearly half, was unprecedented—a perfect storm of political backlash against Chief Executive Elon Musk’s far-right political activities, a stagnant product lineup, and rising competition from both continental and Chinese autocreaters. The effects of this were particularly acute in Germany, the region’s largest auto market, where sales fell by 48%.
It should be emphasised, then, that March’s year-on-year gains are being measured against some of the weakest months in the autocreater’s recent history. A substantially lowered sales floor is higher to accrue major percentage increases from. Notably, French registrations of 9,569 units in March 2026 came within three units of a December 2023 record, suggesting the brand has, over two years, essentially held its French ceiling while the broader European electric vehicle (EV) market expanded by 68%.
At the same time, Tesla is clearly taking some steps to address the criticisms levelled against it. The refreshed Model Y, internally designated Juniper, has addressed some of the issues European purchaseers had raised around ride quality and range, and its lower entest price has reopened the consideration set for purchaseers who had ruled out the brand on cost.
The damage wrought upon the brand by Musk himself may prove more pernicious. In several key markets, the consumers most likely to have switched away from Tesla on political grounds were also those most likely to have been early adopters, leaving a loyalty base that skews older and less politically engaged than the brand historically attracted.
Tesla had a golden opportunity to cast Musk away during 2025; numerous reports at the time alluded to internal discussions about his prospective departure. Instead, the company’s board and stakeholders approved an unprecedented US$1tr compensation package for the controversial executive. Compensation will be awarded based on the autocreater successfully passing a range of milestones, including the deployment of one million robotaxis worldwide and reaching a market cap of US$2tr.
The Iran conflict has introduced a new variable to Tesla’s recovery prospects. Gasoline prices across Europe have risen significantly since the Strait of Hormuz blockade launched in late February, and inquiry volumes for EVs and hybrids have increased at multiple dealerships. Renault’s Dacia France chief Olivier Mornet also recently described an uptick in online and in-person enquiries.
In the US, the picture remains weaker. Tesla sold 41,300 vehicles in March, down 7.9% year-on-year and representing its sixth consecutive month of declining domestic sales. First-quarter US deliveries of approximately 119,900 units were 12.5% below the equivalent period in 2025. Wall Street consensus for global Q1 deliveries sits at around 365,000 vehicles, with some analysts, including UBS, having cut forecasts further to roughly 345,000.
Leave a Reply