PARIS – Sales of Tesla cars in France plunged 59 percent in April, piling on more bad news for the electric vehicle company run by Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to US President Donald Trump.
The dive in the EU’s third-biggest car market follows first-quarter data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) that showed Tesla sales had slumped 45 percent across the bloc.
Analysts say that Musk’s prominent role close to Trump is a likely factor in the sharply lower Tesla sales in Europe.
Musk has become known for axing US federal agencies and programmes, including those for overseas aid — and for twice making a gesture in a Trump inauguration rally that historians said looked like a Nazi salute.
The billionaire has said he plans to step back from his role as the unofficial head of Trump’s cost-cutting “Department of Government Efficiency” to focus more on Tesla.
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that Tesla’s board had begun procedures several weeks ago to find a successor to Musk as CEO.
The decline in Tesla sales in France came against a backdrop of stagnating electric-vehicle sales in the country in April.
Overall car sales shrank by 5.64 percent, with a total 139,000 registrations.
The head of the PFA, Nicolas Le Bigot, said: “We are at a worrying level in the market, which is very low compared to the pre-Covid period.”
He attributed the decline to “a situation of economic uncertainty” for French buyers.
“All that is amplified by uncertainties linked to the trade war that Trump has brought to all countries” with his US tariffs, he said.
PFA said that, for overall car sales in April, the US-European Stellantis group that makes Jeep, Peugeot, Fiat and Maserati vehicles saw registrations slump 12 percent.
Renault sales were up two percent, and Volkswagen registrations were down by 8.5 percent. – AFP
