Tesla sales keep slumping in Europe with BYD gaining ground

(Bloomberg/Stefan Nicola) — Tesla Inc. continues to post steep sales declines in Europe, where the Elon Musk-led automaker is ceding significant share to China’s BYD Co.

In both Germany and the UK — by far the two leading countries for battery-electric vehicle registrations in the region — Tesla’s July sales fell by more than half compared with a year ago, according to figures reported Tuesday. BYD, by contrast, more than quadrupled registrations in each country.

Last week, the national auto association for France — the No. 3 market in Europe by EV sales — reported that Tesla’s registrations dropped 27% in July and were down almost 40% through the first seven months of the year.

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Tesla shares declined as much as 1.2% shortly after the start of regular trading and are down 23% for the year.

Tesla pinned the blame for its early-year sales weakness on manufacturing disruptions linked to changing over production lines for its most important vehicle, the Model Y. But the company’s slump has carried on even as it’s ramped up output of the redesigned SUV, adding to concerns that its chief executive officer’s polarizing and often politically charged persona have damaged Tesla’s brand.

On Monday, the company announced that it had approved an interim award of about $30 billion worth of Tesla stock to Musk as a legal fight over his 2018 pay package drags on.

Tesla’s struggles have created an opening for leading European manufacturers, as well as BYD. The Chinese automaker sold more fully electric cars in Europe than Tesla for the first time ever in April. Some analysts are predicting BYD will pull ahead of Tesla globally for the full year — and that’s without BYDs even being available in Tesla’s home market, the US.

In Germany — Europe’s biggest auto market and the home of Tesla’s sole assembly plant in the region — BYD outsold Tesla for the third time this year in July.

In the UK, BYD has registered more than six times as many vehicles compared with its total through July of last year. That’s lifted its market share to 1.91% on a year-to-date basis, just a tenth of a percentage point shy of Tesla’s share.

(Updates with Tesla share trading in the fourth paragraph.)

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