Tesla May registrations jump in several European markets as recovery continues

By Amir Orusov and Mathias de Rozario

June 1 (Reuters) - New registrations of Tesla cars rose across several European markets in May, continuing a recovery in the U.S. electric vehicle maker's European sales.

Tesla registrations, a proxy for sales, increased year over year by 655% to 5,446 vehicles in France and 29% in Norway, to 3,345 vehicles, figures from Norwegian compiler OFV and French car body PFA showed on Monday.

Growth came also from smaller markets with a 136% rise from last year to 1,750 vehicles in Denmark, 113% to 1,690 vehicles in Spain, 349% to 1,463 vehicles in Portugal and 71% to 858 vehicles in Sweden, data from bilstatistik.dk, ANFAC, ACAP and Mobility Sweden showed.

Tesla's sales in Italy fell by 23.5% from last year to 654 vehicles but rose more than 15% in the first five months of the year from 2025.

Registrations of electrified vehicles in Europe rose about 21% in April from the prior year, making up more than two-thirds of total registrations, driven by policy support, subsidies and higher fuel costs pushing buyers toward lower-emission cars, data from European auto lobby ACEA showed.

While Tesla's market share erodes, its sales are being boosted by significant overall growth of the battery electric car market, particularly driven by accelerating adoption in Scandinavia and a catch-up effect in lagging markets like Spain, said Rico Luman, senior economist at ING Research.

The Tesla data confirms an increasingly aggressive stance in the core EV market, supported by its pricing strategy and superior manufacturing capabilities, TP ICAP Midcap analyst Julien Thomas said.

"The Model Y, in particular, is capturing significant demand in the SUV segment, offering a good balance between price and range, at a time when price elasticity remains high," he added.

Britain and Germany, Europe's largest car markets, are set to report monthly registrations later in the week.

Tesla, the world's most valuable automaker by market capitalisation, lost almost half of its European market share in 2025 due to a combination of growing competition, especially from Chinese brands, its lack of new models and a reaction to CEO Elon Musk's political stance.

(Reporting by Amir Orusov and Mathias de Rozario in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Cynthia Osterman)