Will the Tesla hype be followed by Tesla shame?
Efficient, progressive, innovative and ecological – until recently, this is what Tesla stood for. Everything that Elon Musk no longer embodies. Many are turning away from the brand and sales figures are dwindling. Tesla drivers, who are ashamed of the sometimes far-right content that Musk spreads, put a sticker on their Tesla: ‘I bought this before Elon went crazy’. ‘The incident during Musk’s speech at Trump’s inauguration will massively reinforce this shame and is causing more than just irritation,’ says BEM board member Christian Heep.
The fact that Elon Musk’s company has already lost customers willing to buy in Germany can be seen not least in the sales figures. New registrations of Tesla brand cars have almost halved to 37,000 for 2024 compared to 63,000 for 2023. The market share in the electric car segment in Germany has shrunk from 12.1 to 9.9 per cent. However, Tesla is by no means the only electric brand to record falling sales figures compared to the previous year. In 2024, fewer new electric cars were registered in Germany than in the previous year for the first time: 380,609 electric cars, almost 144,000 fewer than in 2023.
»The main reasons for the decline were above all the ‘end of subsidies for e-cars’ (tagesschau),’ Markus Emmert from the German eMobility Association told rbb. ‘And certainly also the more cautious buying behaviour due to the economic situation.«
However, even in this situation, VW was able to consolidate its leading position, while BMW noticeably improved its position on the e-car market with 42,066 new registrations (2023: 40,420) and a market share of 11.1 per cent (2023: 7.7 per cent). Compared to its German competitors, the US brand is the big loser. »However, there is still brand loyalty in Germany in particular and Volkswagen is of course something of a law, even if there is still some catching up to do in the context of eMobility,« explains Emmert.
