Tesla’s struggles in Europe are becoming harder to ignore and the outlook doesn’t appear to be improving anytime soon. A combination of factors, including Elon Musk’s polarizing public image, rising competition from established automakers, and the rapid emergence of Chinese EV brands, has led to a sharp decline in the brand’s popularity across several key European markets. As a result, its local market share has taken a significant hit.

New data reveals the extent of the damage. In July, Tesla registrations in the Netherlands dropped 62 percent year-over-year to 443 vehicles. In Belgium, they fell 58 percent to 460, and in Portugal, they declined 49 percent to just 284 units.

The impact was even more severe in Sweden, where registrations fell 86 percent to 163 vehicles. Denmark and France also saw steep drops of 52 percent and 27 percent, with Tesla selling 336 and 1,307 units in those markets, respectively.

Read: Tesla’s European Sales Bloodbath Continues, But One Country Is Over Hating Musk

Sales continued to slip in Italy as well, down 5 percent year-over-year to 457 vehicles. As noted by Reuters, sales declines in these major nations in not only July, but also in June, have also seen Tesla’s battery-electric vehicle market share fall from 21.6 percent to 14.5 percent.

Can Tesla Turn Things Around?

Amid the downturn, there were a couple of bright spots. In Norway, Tesla registrations surged 83 percent to 838 vehicles, helped in part by the introduction of 0 percent interest loans. Spain also saw a modest uptick, with sales rising 27 percent to 702 units.

Despite the challenges, Musk remains optimistic that Tesla can stage a rebound in Europe. While recently speaking with analysts, he said that the region’s stricter regulations on semi-autonomous driving systems make it harder to sell the Model Y than in the US.

“Our sales in Europe, we think, will improve significantly once we are able to give customers the same experience that they have in the U.S.,” he explained, citing Full Self-Driving capabilities as “a huge selling point” in the American market.

For much of the past year, Tesla sales have been consistently dropping across major European markets. Unsurprisingly, this downward trend is continuing, although there has been some welcome reprieve for Tesla in a handful of markets thanks to the arrival of the heavily updated ‘Juniper’ Model Y.

The good news for Tesla starts in Norway. In June, Tesla sales jumped 54 percent in the country. The arrival of the new Model Y was a major boost, with registrations increasing 115.3 percent to 5,004 units. Similarly, Tesla sales rose by a considerable 60.7 percent in Spain to 2,632 units. This was also largely down to the new Model Y, with its sales rising 127.2 percent to 1,179 units. Sales in Portugal also rose 7.3 percent.

Read: Europe Keeps Buying More EVs Just Not From Tesla

Despite these strong-performing markets, there was a bloodbath in many other countries. In Sweden, things were particularly bad, with Tesla scoring a 64.4 percent decline last month compared to June 2024. As noted by Reuters, sales in Denmark have also collapsed by 61.6 percent. Despite the new Model Y now being available in Denmark, sales of Tesla’s best-selling model still dropped 31.2 percent to 1,155 units.

Other countries followed the same trend. In France, Tesla sales are down 10 percent, while in Italy, they fell by 66 percent.

Schmidt Automotive reports that Tesla has endured six year-on-year losses in quarterly new registration volumes across Western Europe, and is now staring down a seventh. Tesla’s share of the EV market shrank across the region to 7.2 percent in May, down from the 12.6 percent share it had in May 2024.

While Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no longer a special government employee under the Trump administration, it seems his involvement in politics is still having a major impact on European car shoppers. In addition, an ever-growing number of EVs from China are making their way to local shores, stealing market share from Tesla.

Tesla’s Cybertruck isn’t officially homologated for Europe, and even if it was available, it’d be too wide for many of the continent’s roads. But a French startup called ÆMotion has come up with a very different EV, one that looks weirdly reminiscent of Elon Musk’s most angular creation and definitely doesn’t have to worry about anyone calling it fat.

What Exactly Is This Thing?

Imagine a Renault Twizy that leans into corners like a motorcycle and you’ve pretty much described the new machine from ÆMotion. It has four wheels, like the Renault axed in 2023, but at just 790 mm (31 inches) wide it’s 300 mm (12 inches) narrower and is steered by handlebars rather than a steering wheel.

Also, yes, that company name, with its stylized A-E ligature, definitely feels like something Elon Musk would give to a child or a satellite. For the curious, according to Wikipedia, Æ (and its lowercase counterpart æ) began as a mashup of the letters a and e, representing the Latin diphthong ae. Over time, it graduated from decorative ligature to full-blown letter status in several languages.

Related: $7,700 Ark Zero EV Looks Like A Pixar Car Made Real

The Cybertruck-like enclosed bodywork has scissors doors and a roof to protect its rider (driver?) and the passenger directly behind them from rain, and seatbelts and front and rear crash structures to protect them in an accident.

AEMotion

ÆMotion claims accidents are much less likely to happen than when riding a traditional motorcycle thanks to the stability that four wheels provide. However, considering there’s no need for the rider to put his feet down when stopped, it seems odd that your legs are exposed by a gap in the bodywork.

Cranked into a turn the quad will lean to a maximum of 35 degrees, and top out at 72 mph (115 km/h), though most will spend their lives at much lower speeds, weaving through gaps in urban traffic that even the Twizy can’t leverage. A fixed battery gives a range of 124 miles (200 km) or riders can opt for a lighter battery that only lasts 44 miles (70 km) but can we swapped out for another when flat.

Although it looks like a motorcycle, or one of the weird quadricycles that can be driven in some European countries by kids as young as 14, the ÆMotion requires riders posses a conventional car licence, known in France as the Permis B. The company has no prices on its website but NewAtlas claims the startup is initially planning to hook users in with a €200 ($231) per month deal, which sounds expensive to us.