A survey of over 100,000 Germans revealed that 94% won’t buy a Tesla vehicle. It doesn’t bode well for the automaker, whose sales had already been falling off a cliff in the important European market.
In 2024, Tesla saw a 41% reduction in sales in Germany compared to 2023 despite EV sales surging 27% during the year.
This has already raised red flags about Tesla’s future in Germany, but it is nothing compared to Tesla’s performance so far in 2025.
Tesla’s sales were down 70% in the first two months of 2025, and again, that’s compared to its already poor performance in 2024.
There are many factors at play, including increased EV competition and the Model Y changeover, but in recent months, industry experts have attributed Tesla’s decline in the country to Germans being upset with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s meddling in local elections and promoting the far-right AfD party.
Musk is currently under probe in Europe for his political meddling, and his reputation has crashed in Germany after a couple of Seig Heil salutes at Trump’s inauguration and several questionable posts promoting fascist and Nazi ideologies, like this one yesterday:
This does not help Tesla’s prospects in Europe, particularly Germany. Only 20% of voters sided with AfD, and Tesla shouldn’t necessarily count on them being potential customers.
AfD has been staunchly against Tesla and even ran ads like this:
Now, a new survey of 100,000 Germans by T-Online about Tesla showed that only 3% of respondents would consider buying a Tesla vehicle:
It’s a rejection that couldn’t be clearer: More than 94 percent of t-online readers say they won’t buy a Tesla again. Only three percent said they would still consider a car from the former electric pioneer. Around 100,000 readers voted—a record turnout. The message is clear: Germans are turning their backs on Tesla.
Those are impressive results, and they explain Tesla’s current sales in Germany.
Some Tesla shareholders hope that the new version of the Model Y will help reverse the trend, but those poll results don’t look good.
Furthermore, Tesla’s Model 3 sales are also crashing in Germany, which suggests that Model Y is not the only problem.
Electrek’s Take
Those results are wild. We are back to like 2015 Tesla when no one knew are cared about the company.
Now, everyone knows about it, but no one wants to touch it.
Fortunately, it is coming at a time when there are plenty of other EV options, and it looks like the EV transition is going to continue in Germany, just without Tesla.
With these results, I’m starting to think that Tesla is going to have to scale back in Germany.
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