EVs boost German auto sales, Tesla falls again

A jump in electric car sales helped give a slight boost to Germany's troubled auto market last month, official data showed Wednesday, although Elon Musk's Tesla fared poorly again.

A total of 239,297 new vehicles were registered in May in Europe's top car market, 1.2 percent more than the same month last year, the KBA federal transport authority said.

The number of electric vehicles (EVs) registered jumped 45 percent, as the segment continues a tentative recovery following a downturn last year triggered by the removal of government subsidies.

This offset declines for petrol and diesel vehicle sales.

But electric car maker Tesla, which has suffered across Europe due to anger that Musk played a role as a key advisor to US President Donald Trump, saw its sales slide again, this time by 36 percent.

The US billionaire has faced particular hostility in Germany for backing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) before February's general election.

Musk left his role as an advisor to Trump last week, although it is not yet clear what impact this could have on Tesla's fortunes.

Registrations of BYD cars jumped more than 800 percent from a year earlier, to nearly 1,860 vehicles, although the Chinese EV giant is just beginning to make inroads in Germany.

EY analyst Constantin Gall said many EV manufacturers had "significantly reduced the price difference between combustion engines and comparable electric vehicles, and are also offering very attractive financing or leasing conditions for electric cars".

The German auto market has performed weakly in recent years, and is still about 28 percent below pre-pandemic levels, according to EY.

"The market is moving sideways and not advancing -- neither in Germany nor in Europe," said Gall.

Source: AFP