Tesla is losing ground in France. Registrations of new vehicles have dropped 41 percent since the start of the year, while second-hand listings have shot up. Experts say model changes, stronger competition and growing unease with CEO Elon Musk are all playing a role.
Alberto, who works in a business district northwest of Paris, decided to get rid of his Tesla following the United States presidential election.
“I sold my Tesla Model Y at the end of 2024. The election of Donald Trump and Musk’s involvement in the electoral campaign, and everything that followed, made up my mind,” he told RFI. “That doesn’t mean that one day, if Musk is no longer in charge of Tesla, I won’t return to Tesla. But for now, I think we cannot support what he’s doing.”
Adrien has become similarly disillusioned with Tesla. He decided to sell his for other, unrelated reasons, but he is adamant that when he buys a new car it won’t be a Tesla. “With all the space Elon Musk has taken up in the news, all his ideas, it doesn’t really sit well. Financing his crazy ideology is very complicated,” he said.
Musk risks putting EU buyers off Tesla: analysts
It was Alberto’s interest in technological innovation that drew him to Tesla when he bought his four years ago. “I was quite convinced by the concept, which had the image of a forward-thinking brand, ahead of all the others,” he said.
Read more on RFI English
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