Tesla's European sales keep collapsing even as the EV market grows

• Tesla's European sales fell by nearly 50% in April, even as overall EV sales on the continent grew.
• The backlash against Elon Musk has made Tesla a target for protests and hit sales around the world.
• Tesla faces growing EV competition in Europe, and was recently overtaken by BYD for the first time.

Elon Musk's brand catastrophe in Europe is only getting worse.

Tesla's sales collapsed 49% in Europe last month, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), as the automaker continues to battle a brand crisis in its third-largest market.

The slump came even as sales of battery electric vehicles in Europe rose by nearly 28%, per ACEA data.

It also suggests that the refreshed version of Tesla's best-selling Model Y, which began rolling off production lines earlier this year, has so far failed to turn things around.

The backlash against CEO Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration has depressed Tesla's sales across the globe and turned the automaker into a target for protests and vandalism.

The resulting brand crisis has been exacerbated in Europe by Musk's support of the German far-right party AfD, which has seen the billionaire draw criticism from German politicians and other industry figures.

In an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum last week, Musk rebuffed suggestions that Tesla was struggling to shift its EVs, saying that other companies were also struggling in Europe and that Tesla was seeing no issues with demand.

While some of Tesla's rivals have struggled, none have seen as great a drop in sales. What's more, BMW, Renault, and VW — which overtook Tesla to become the biggest EV seller in Europe in March — have all seen their sales grow so far this year, per ACEA data.

To make matters worse for Tesla, several of the company's Chinese rivals have recorded surging sales in Europe so far this year.

State-owned auto conglomerate SAIC Motor saw its sales jump nearly 25% in April, while Tesla nemesis BYD sold more electric vehicles than Tesla in Europe for the first time last month, as it puts the automaker under pressure across the globe.