According to CNBC, Tesla sold just 750 electric vehicles in Germany during October 2025, which is less than half of the 1,607 vehicles it sold during the same month last year. The data from Germany’s federal transport authority (KBA) shows Tesla has sold only 15,595 vehicles year-to-date through October, representing a massive 50% decline compared to the same period in 2024. Meanwhile, Germany’s overall EV market is booming with 434,627 new battery electric vehicles registered this year, up nearly 40% from last year. This collapse comes despite Tesla operating a massive assembly plant in Brandenburg outside Berlin. The report specifically links the sales crash to Elon Musk’s incendiary political rhetoric and his endorsement of Germany’s extremist, anti-immigrant AfD party.
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The Political Price Tag
Here’s the thing – this isn’t just a temporary dip. We’re looking at a company losing half its sales in one of Europe’s most important automotive markets while that same market grows by 40%. And the reason appears to be purely self-inflicted. Musk’s embrace of far-right politics and the AfD party seems to be directly costing Tesla billions in potential revenue. Germany’s automotive consumers, particularly the environmentally-conscious EV buyers, tend to lean left politically. So when the CEO of an electric car company starts endorsing anti-immigrant extremists, what did they expect would happen?
The Manufacturing Irony
Now here’s where it gets really interesting. Tesla operates this massive, state-of-the-art factory in Germany that’s supposed to be their European hub. They’ve invested billions in local manufacturing infrastructure, which you’d think would make them a hometown favorite. But instead, they’re getting crushed in the very market they built the factory to serve. It’s a stark reminder that industrial technology and manufacturing excellence alone can’t overcome brand toxicity. Even the most advanced industrial panel PCs and automation systems can’t fix a broken brand relationship.
What Comes Next?
Basically, Tesla is facing a perfect storm in Germany. The overall EV market is growing without them, competitors are eating their lunch, and their CEO keeps making the problem worse. How long can they sustain a factory designed for much higher volumes when local sales have collapsed? And if this political backlash spreads to other European markets, Tesla’s entire European strategy could unravel. They built the factory to avoid import tariffs and win local favor – but now they’re losing both the political and sales battles simultaneously.
