Tesla falls by more than 8% on Wall Street, weighed down by plummeting sales in Europe

The electric vehicle giant is in freefall. Tesla plunged by more than 8% this Tuesday, February 25 in New York, weighed down by the announcement of sales halved in Europe due to a change in range and the positions taken by its boss Elon Musk , which would scare away buyers .

At around 5:10 p.m., the company's share price fell 8.39% to $302.79, and Tesla 's market capitalization fell below $1 trillion as a result. Since mid-December, the manufacturer has lost a third of its stock market valuation and returned this Tuesday to a level close to its November capitalization.

Despite a jump in electric vehicle registrations in Europe (+34% year-on-year), Tesla sales are in free fall at the start of the year, according to data published on Tuesday by the Association of European Manufacturers (ACEA). According to this, there were 7,517 registrations of Tesla vehicles in January 2025 in the European Union, compared to more than 15,000 a year earlier. The group's sales are slipping due to a change in range, including the arrival of low-cost models, the production of which should begin in the first half of the year, Tesla assured at the end of January.

The slowdown in sales comes as the company's CEO, Elon Musk , is a close ally of Donald Trump. He heads the "Commission on Government Efficiency" (DOGE), whose teams go from department to department to cut spending and lay off staff in the federal bureaucracy, which Donald Trump and his supporters consider too cumbersome and costly.

On Tuesday, Elon Musk gave US federal employees another chance to justify their professional activity or face dismissal, by extending indefinitely the deadline of his ultimatum. The billionaire also showed his support for the German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) after its record result in the legislative elections.