Tesla Car Registrations Soared in Key European Markets in Turnaround
By Reuters | 01 Apr, 2026

Tesla's March sales tripled in France and more than doubled in the Nordic countries due largely to new cheaper Model Y and Model 3.

New registrations of Tesla cars tripled in France in March, just shy of a two-year-old record high, and more than doubled in the Nordic countries, data showed on Wednesday, in the latest sign of the EV giant's sales recovery in Europe.

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

Since it started to roll out new, cheaper versions of its Model Y and Model 3 to consumers in the U.S. and Europe late last year, Tesla's European registrations, a proxy for sales, have reversed course and returned to growth in February.

In the longer term, Tesla and other EV makers stand to benefit from a war-driven rise in petrol prices affecting sales trends, said Flavien Neuvy, economist and director of the automotive observatory at BNP Paribas unit Cetelem.

"I think the impact on March registrations was still marginal as that plays more on order books," Neuvy said. "We’ll see the effects of this Iran war factor over the coming months."

Olivier Mornet, the CEO of Renault's Dacia France, told Reuters it was difficult to assess the impact of the war on orders for now, but inquiries for electric and LPG cars at dealerships and on the company's websites had spiked.

MARCH REGISTRATIONS SPIKE

Tesla's March registrations accelerated in France, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

In France, 9,569 new Teslas were registered, data from French car body PFA showed on Wednesday, a 203% increase from a year earlier. That was just below an all-time high of 9,572 vehicles registered in December 2023.

Overall, monthly car sales in France grew for the first time since October.

In Norway, Sweden and Denmark, Tesla registrations were up by 178%, 144% and 96% at 6,150, 1,447 and 1,784 vehicles, respectively, data from OFV, bilstatistik.dk and Mobility Sweden showed.

They rose by 72% to 1,819 cars in the Netherlands and by 25% to 2,477 in Spain, according to the RAI and ANFAC industry groups.

In a letter sent to British media last month, Tesla said registrations were usually skewed towards the end of each quarter due to the way cars are shipped.

Its first-quarter registrations grew 108% in France, 95% in Norway, 48% in Sweden, 50% in Denmark and 43% in Spain. They fell 23% in the Netherlands.

Italy and Portugal are expected to report March registration figures later on Wednesday, while Britain and Germany, Europe's largest car markets, will report later in the week.

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, Louise Rasmussen, Gilles Guillaume, Camille Raynaud and Mireia Merino; Editing by Sonali Paul, Matt Scuffham and Milla Nissi-Prussak)