By Nick Carey and Jesus Calero
LONDON (Reuters) -Tesla’s sales rose in France and Denmark last month for the first time this year, local industry data showed on Wednesday, with the U.S. electric car maker’s revamped Model Y coming in as the best-selling model in Denmark.
The company’s sales continued to rise in Norway, where EVs dominate the market and Tesla has long been one of the country’s top sellers. But in Sweden new car registrations – a proxy for sales – showed a ninth straight monthly drop for Tesla.
RISING COMPETITION AND BACKLASH VS MUSK
Tesla has struggled in Europe this year as its small, ageing model lineup has faced growing competition from EVs launched by European and Chinese rivals.
The U.S. company has not released a new mass-market model since the Model Y in 2020.
Tesla’s competitive problems have been compounded by a backlash by some consumers against its CEO Elon Musk, who helped bankroll Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory last year and has championed European far-right parties.
Tesla has argued that its revamped Model Y, which it began delivering in many European markets in June, would lead a recovery in European sales.
For January-August, Tesla’s sales were down 42.9% year-on-year in the European Union and down 32.6% in Europe as a whole.
China’s BYD outsold Tesla in the EU in August for the second time this year.
But in September, Tesla reported a 2.74% annual increase in sales in France and a 20.5% rise in Denmark.
In Norway, Tesla’s registrations were up 14.7%, with its Model Y and Model 3 taking the top two spots for sales.
But in Sweden, which was Tesla’s worst-performing market in Europe in the first eight months of the year, its registrations fell 64% to 1,726 cars, although that was up sharply from the 210 cars it registered there in August.
(Reporting by Nick CareyEditing by Mark Potter)
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