Elon Musk on the nose in Europe as drivers ditch Tesla
The latest results reflect gains for Chinese carmakers from the troubles at Tesla, while signalling the dislike for Musk among European voters unhappy at his support for conservative causes.
Tesla sales slumped 60 per cent in June in Germany compared with the same month last year, according to results from German road traffic agency KBA.
They fell 58 per cent over the six months to the end of June. But the dramatic shift did not deliver any wins for Germany's automotive giants, with sales flat or slightly down at Audi, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. Sales rose 3.8 per cent at BMW.
Sales for the four German manufacturers rose in the 12 months to June – up between 7 per cent and 20 per cent.
The strongest trend was the boost for Chinese carmakers making inroads into the heartland of the European car industry. Sales in June were up 294 per cent at BYD from a low base, 32 per cent at Mini and 55 per cent at Polestar.
Tesla sales fell for a sixth consecutive month in France, Sweden, Denmark and Italy, underlining the challenges facing the company. There was a glimmer of hope for the company, however, with sales rising in Norway, Spain and Portugal.
Musk, also the head of social media site X, has triggered a backlash in parts of Europe this year after a series of interventions in domestic politics.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
6 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Stocks dip, dollar slumps as Trump deal deadline looms
Stocks have slipped despite record highs for Wall Street overnight as US President Donald Trump's deadline for trade deals looms. The dollar retraced some of Thursday's gains with US markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week as traders considered the impact of the sweeping spending bill that Trump is expected to sign into law later in the day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.6 per cent on Friday, driven in part by losses on spirits makers such as Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau after China said it would impose duties of up to 34.9 per cent on brandy from the European Union starting July 5. US S&P 500 futures edged down 0.5 per cent following a 0.8 per cent overnight advance for the cash index to a fresh record closing peak. Wall Street is closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Trump said Washington would start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they would face on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9 deadline when tariffs could rise sharply. Investors were "now just waiting for July 9", said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market's lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea. At the same time, Thursday's jobs data showed "the US economy is holding together better than most people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily continue to do better" from here, Sycamore said. Investors cheered the surprisingly robust jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main US equity indexes climbing in a shortened session. Following the close, the House narrowly approved Trump's signature, 869-page bill, which would add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion debt, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Trump said he expected "a couple" more trade agreements after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to framework agreements with China and Britain as the only successes so far. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that a deal with India was close. However, agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced, appear to have broken down. The US dollar rallied overnight, taking it up as much as 0.7 per cent versus a basket of major peers after the robust payrolls data saw traders take any expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in July off the table. It ended Thursday with a 0.4 per cent rise. On Friday, the US currency gave back a little of those gains, slumping 0.4 per cent to 144.31 yen and sliding 0.2 per cent to 0.7936 Swiss franc. The euro added 0.2 per cent to $US1.1773, while sterling held steady at $US1.3662. The US Treasury bond market is closed on Friday for the holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points to 4.34 per cent while the two-year yield jumped 9.3 bps to 3.882 per cent. Gold firmed 0.4 per cent to $US3,339 per ounce, on track for a weekly gain as investors again sought refuge in safe-haven assets due to concerns over the US's fiscal position and tariffs. Brent crude futures fell seven cents to $US68.73 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was last seen flat at $US67.02. Stocks have slipped despite record highs for Wall Street overnight as US President Donald Trump's deadline for trade deals looms. The dollar retraced some of Thursday's gains with US markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week as traders considered the impact of the sweeping spending bill that Trump is expected to sign into law later in the day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.6 per cent on Friday, driven in part by losses on spirits makers such as Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau after China said it would impose duties of up to 34.9 per cent on brandy from the European Union starting July 5. US S&P 500 futures edged down 0.5 per cent following a 0.8 per cent overnight advance for the cash index to a fresh record closing peak. Wall Street is closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Trump said Washington would start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they would face on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9 deadline when tariffs could rise sharply. Investors were "now just waiting for July 9", said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market's lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea. At the same time, Thursday's jobs data showed "the US economy is holding together better than most people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily continue to do better" from here, Sycamore said. Investors cheered the surprisingly robust jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main US equity indexes climbing in a shortened session. Following the close, the House narrowly approved Trump's signature, 869-page bill, which would add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion debt, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Trump said he expected "a couple" more trade agreements after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to framework agreements with China and Britain as the only successes so far. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that a deal with India was close. However, agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced, appear to have broken down. The US dollar rallied overnight, taking it up as much as 0.7 per cent versus a basket of major peers after the robust payrolls data saw traders take any expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in July off the table. It ended Thursday with a 0.4 per cent rise. On Friday, the US currency gave back a little of those gains, slumping 0.4 per cent to 144.31 yen and sliding 0.2 per cent to 0.7936 Swiss franc. The euro added 0.2 per cent to $US1.1773, while sterling held steady at $US1.3662. The US Treasury bond market is closed on Friday for the holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points to 4.34 per cent while the two-year yield jumped 9.3 bps to 3.882 per cent. Gold firmed 0.4 per cent to $US3,339 per ounce, on track for a weekly gain as investors again sought refuge in safe-haven assets due to concerns over the US's fiscal position and tariffs. Brent crude futures fell seven cents to $US68.73 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was last seen flat at $US67.02. Stocks have slipped despite record highs for Wall Street overnight as US President Donald Trump's deadline for trade deals looms. The dollar retraced some of Thursday's gains with US markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week as traders considered the impact of the sweeping spending bill that Trump is expected to sign into law later in the day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.6 per cent on Friday, driven in part by losses on spirits makers such as Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau after China said it would impose duties of up to 34.9 per cent on brandy from the European Union starting July 5. US S&P 500 futures edged down 0.5 per cent following a 0.8 per cent overnight advance for the cash index to a fresh record closing peak. Wall Street is closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Trump said Washington would start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they would face on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9 deadline when tariffs could rise sharply. Investors were "now just waiting for July 9", said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market's lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea. At the same time, Thursday's jobs data showed "the US economy is holding together better than most people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily continue to do better" from here, Sycamore said. Investors cheered the surprisingly robust jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main US equity indexes climbing in a shortened session. Following the close, the House narrowly approved Trump's signature, 869-page bill, which would add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion debt, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Trump said he expected "a couple" more trade agreements after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to framework agreements with China and Britain as the only successes so far. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that a deal with India was close. However, agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced, appear to have broken down. The US dollar rallied overnight, taking it up as much as 0.7 per cent versus a basket of major peers after the robust payrolls data saw traders take any expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in July off the table. It ended Thursday with a 0.4 per cent rise. On Friday, the US currency gave back a little of those gains, slumping 0.4 per cent to 144.31 yen and sliding 0.2 per cent to 0.7936 Swiss franc. The euro added 0.2 per cent to $US1.1773, while sterling held steady at $US1.3662. The US Treasury bond market is closed on Friday for the holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points to 4.34 per cent while the two-year yield jumped 9.3 bps to 3.882 per cent. Gold firmed 0.4 per cent to $US3,339 per ounce, on track for a weekly gain as investors again sought refuge in safe-haven assets due to concerns over the US's fiscal position and tariffs. Brent crude futures fell seven cents to $US68.73 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was last seen flat at $US67.02. Stocks have slipped despite record highs for Wall Street overnight as US President Donald Trump's deadline for trade deals looms. The dollar retraced some of Thursday's gains with US markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week as traders considered the impact of the sweeping spending bill that Trump is expected to sign into law later in the day. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.6 per cent on Friday, driven in part by losses on spirits makers such as Pernod Ricard and Remy Cointreau after China said it would impose duties of up to 34.9 per cent on brandy from the European Union starting July 5. US S&P 500 futures edged down 0.5 per cent following a 0.8 per cent overnight advance for the cash index to a fresh record closing peak. Wall Street is closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Trump said Washington would start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they would face on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9 deadline when tariffs could rise sharply. Investors were "now just waiting for July 9", said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market's lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea. At the same time, Thursday's jobs data showed "the US economy is holding together better than most people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily continue to do better" from here, Sycamore said. Investors cheered the surprisingly robust jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main US equity indexes climbing in a shortened session. Following the close, the House narrowly approved Trump's signature, 869-page bill, which would add $US3.4 trillion ($A5.2 trillion) to the nation's $US36.2 trillion debt, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Trump said he expected "a couple" more trade agreements after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to framework agreements with China and Britain as the only successes so far. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that a deal with India was close. However, agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced, appear to have broken down. The US dollar rallied overnight, taking it up as much as 0.7 per cent versus a basket of major peers after the robust payrolls data saw traders take any expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in July off the table. It ended Thursday with a 0.4 per cent rise. On Friday, the US currency gave back a little of those gains, slumping 0.4 per cent to 144.31 yen and sliding 0.2 per cent to 0.7936 Swiss franc. The euro added 0.2 per cent to $US1.1773, while sterling held steady at $US1.3662. The US Treasury bond market is closed on Friday for the holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points to 4.34 per cent while the two-year yield jumped 9.3 bps to 3.882 per cent. Gold firmed 0.4 per cent to $US3,339 per ounce, on track for a weekly gain as investors again sought refuge in safe-haven assets due to concerns over the US's fiscal position and tariffs. Brent crude futures fell seven cents to $US68.73 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was last seen flat at $US67.02.
Perth Now
9 hours ago
- Perth Now
Australia's best-selling EVs in the first half of 2025
Tesla may have experienced a sales slump in recent months, but it's still Australia's number one electric vehicle (EV) brand by a huge margin. According to data supplied by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), Tesla delivered 14,156 EVs in the first half of 2025, placing it well ahead of second-placed BYD at 8556. BYD is outselling Tesla overall too, notching up 23,355 deliveries year-to-date including its plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). Below is a Flourish chart showing all brands that sell EVs in Australia, and how many they each delivered in the first half of 2025. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. A total of 624,130 new vehicles were delivered in Australia during the first six months of 2025, with a total of 47,245 of these being EVs – or 7.6 per cent overall. In contrast, during the first half of 2024, Australians took delivery of 633,098 new vehicles, with a total of 50,905 of these being EVs – an 8.0 per cent share. Notably, there are still some brands that don't report their delivery figures to either the FCAI or the EVC. These include Cadillac, Smart, and Xpeng, though holdout Deepal – which commenced customer deliveries last December – started reporting its figures in May 2025. The Tesla Model Y remains Australia's best-selling EV by a country mile, and the arrival of a heavily updated model has helped boost sales in recent months. Supplied Credit: CarExpert While the second-placed BYD Sealion 7 is quite a bit behind, deliveries of the rival mid-size electric SUV only commenced in February and have ramped up, reaching a shocking 1795 in June – just over half the established Tesla brand's tally. Another Tesla – the US brand's only other model in Australia, the Model 3 sedan – sat in third place despite a significant sales decline. The MG 4 hatch and Kia EV5 mid-size SUV also remained in the top five overall. Below is a flourish chart showing every EV sold in Australia during the first half of 2025, excluding models like the Cadillac Lyriq, Xpeng G6, and the Smart lineup, for which sales data isn't available. We've also used VFACTS data to calculate how much of a nameplate's sales were attributable to EVs, where other powertrain types are available. MORE: VFACTS: Australia's best-selling brands and models in the first half of 2025
7NEWS
9 hours ago
- 7NEWS
2028 Polestar 7 small SUV teased, will share a lot with Volvo
Polestar is working closely with fellow Geely-owned brand Volvo when it comes to its upcoming Polestar 7, which will be built at a Volvo plant and will use Volvo technology. The all-new small electric SUV will be launched in 2028 and produced at a new Volvo Cars factory in Kosice, Slovakia. Volvo has also confirmed the new Polestar 7 will be followed by an as-yet unnamed next-generation model of its own, which will also be produced in the same plant. While all Polestars sold in Australia are produced in China, the EV brand has been diversifying its manufacturing operations, with the Polestar 3 large SUV entering production in the US and the Polestar 4 mid-size SUV soon to be produced in Korea. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Despite the name, the Polestar 7 will be the brand's smallest model as Polestar persists with a naming system based on the order in which it launches its models – even though the Polestar 6 convertible's launch has been pushed back to after the 7's. Confused? Basically, don't expect a BMW 7 Series limousine rival, but rather a compact electric SUV and therefore likely a corporate cousin to models like the Volvo EX30, Smart #3 and Zeekr X from elsewhere within the Geely empire. A single teaser image of the Polestar 7 released this week doesn't reveal much, other than bold daytime running lights that fit in neatly with those employed by other Polestar products. Polestar says the new SUV will 'utilise a technology base from Volvo Cars, benefiting from group component sharing, cell-to-body technology with next-generation battery density and performance, as well as the next generation of in-house developed e-motors'. That indicates a shared platform, rather than a Polestar-specific platform like that used by the Polestar 5 grand tourer due later this year, though the brand promises 'adaptations will be made to create the driving experience and performance characteristics that Polestar is known for'. Volvo has confirmed the Polestar 7 will share a 'common technology base' with the upcoming Volvo EX60, which will be based on the new SPA3 platform, as well as an unspecified Volvo. Existing Polestar vehicles already share their platforms with other Geely-owned brands. Slovakia is becoming an increasingly popular production location, with Jaguar Land Rover also manufacturing its Land Rover Defender and Discovery there, and the Volkswagen Group manufacturing the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg there. Kia and Stellantis also produce vehicles there for the European market. Above: Polestar 3 production Polestar notes the location of the Kosice factory 'offers good logistical connections to European markets and a developed supplier base', while Volvo has confirmed the plant – which is costing 1.2 billion euros (A$2.15bn) to develop – will be able to produce up to 250,000 cars per year. But producing the vehicle in Europe also means it won't be subject to tariffs imposed by the European Union on Chinese vehicle imports. 'Our strategy of utilising Group architectures as the base for our future model line-up gives us access to the best, latest technologies, in a cost-efficient manner,' said Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller. 'With a design and sporty driving characteristics that are instantly recognisable, Polestar 7 will set new standards in the premium compact SUV segment.' The Polestar 7 will slot in towards the bottom of the Polestar lineup, alongside the Polestar 2 fastback that's set to receive a second generation.
