Tesla sold 7,164 vehicles in the UK in March, up 2.4% from a year earlier, according to industry data released on Friday. The U.S. electric vehicle maker registered 12,474 cars in the country during the first quarter, marking a 6% year-over-year increase.
The UK and Ireland were the only European markets to post year-on-year growth in February, with UK sales up 21% and Ireland up 14%. In March, several Southern and Central European markets joined the list of growth markets, while Ireland saw a reversal, with registrations falling 21%.
Tesla Sales in Europe
Tesla’s performance in Europe’s largest auto markets remained under pressure in March. In Germany, deliveries dropped 42.5% from a year earlier to 2,229 units. France saw a 36.9% decline to 3,157 vehicles, while sales in the Netherlands fell 50% to 1,536.
Nordic markets were mixed. Norway remained relatively flat with 2,211 vehicles sold, while Denmark and Sweden posted sharp drops. Danish registrations sank 65.6% to 593 units, and Swedish sales declined 63.9% to 911.
By contrast, Tesla expanded its presence in Southern Europe last month. Italy saw deliveries rise 51.3% year-on-year to 2,217 units, Spain gained 34.3% with 1,983 vehicles, and Portugal edged up 2.1% to 1,208. Still, first-quarter registrations in all three countries remained lower than a year ago.
First quarter figures show that BYD sales grew 625% in the country, with a total of 9,271 cars. Polestar listed 3,695 units, up 184% from the previous year. Tesla’s Chinese rival XPeng officially launched in the UK in February and registered 36 vehicles in its first month in the market.
New Model Y
The Elon Musk-run company is accelerating production of the refreshed Model Y across four factories, which was unveiled in early January. The SUV became available for purchase in the country in mid-February, with prices starting at £44,990 ($58,400).
Tesla UK is currently offering 2 years of free supercharging for “pre-configured Model Y” vehicles ordered until the end of June.
Q1 + Annual Target
Tesla announced on Wednesday morning that it delivered 336,700 vehicles globally in the first quarter, a 12.9% decline year over year and the lowest reported deliveries in a quarter in three years.
In January, amid the fourth quarter earnings results, Tesla lowered its target for vehicle sales from a “20 to 30%” increase to a “return to growth.”
“With the advancements in vehicle autonomy and the introduction of new products, we expect the vehicle business to return to growth in 2025,” the company stated in its shareholder deck. “The rate of growth will depend on a variety of factors, including the rate of acceleration of our autonomy efforts, production ramp at our factories and the broader macroeconomic environment.”
Recent sales figures are impacted by production changes for the refreshed Model Y and also by the ongoing attacks on the company, fueled by political tensions surrounding Elon Musk.
EV Adoption
Fully electric vehicles (BEV) made up 69,313 of the registrations in March in the UK, with a market share of 19.5%, a 27.63% change year over year. One out of five cars sold in the country is fully electric.
Hybrid vehicles (HEV) make up 15.7%, while combustion engine models still hold the majority share at 50%.
Looking to the first quarter, battery electric vehicles were 20.7% of the sales, with new energy vehicles, which include HEVs and PHEVs, representing 44% of the market share in the UK.
