Summary
Tesla’s registrations in France dropped 63% in January, their lowest since August 2022, far outpacing the broader total EV sales’ 0.5% decline.
Tesla registrations across EU countries fell 13% last year, with Germany accounting for much of the decline.
Sales in Germany, Tesla’s biggest European market, also fell 41% last year due to an aging lineup, competition, and subsidy cuts.
CEO Elon Musk’s political involvement, including support for Germany’s far-right party, may be affecting demand.
There’s another factor that jumps to mind when I think of cars in France: they buy A LOT of French cars! I don’t have any statistical data, but it feels like half of the cars on their roads are French… And now that their manufacturers’ offer of EVs is starting to flesh out, they probably prefer buying “local”.
Was in France for 3 weeks on holiday and saw almost exclusively Citroën, Renault, and Peugeot. My rental car was a Renault E Tech and after driving it,I looked into importing one to the USA (sadly it’s not possible for regulatory reasons).
That’s hilarious taking into account European standards are stricter than US. US industry clearly don’t like competition.
French cars are banned in the USA (also we use CCS1, moving to NACS, while y’all use CCS2 everywhere), but we have Volvo, Pollstar, and German brands everywhere. I wanted a Volvo for my new car, but they’re not rated for towing horses in the USA like they are in Europe (USA versions are rated half the towing capacity than in Europe).
Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi share platforms. Mexico has Peugeot and Citroen. Who knows, maybe the Canadians will open up to the French automobile brands as Mango Mussolini continues to fuck GM, Ford and Stellantis (North American operations).
Mexico may have French brands, but here in Sonora (I live in on the USA side), I’ve never seen any. Actually learned something new haha.
As far as I know, Renault sales is ramping up.
I mean, have you seen the new R5? Sexy!