Tesla’s European Sales Were Dreadful. What It Means for the Stock.

Through July, Tesla sales in Europe were down 34% year over year. Tesla investors, however, are more concerned with AI these days. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

Tesla stock is holding up early Thursday, despite more bad sales data from Europe. Investors just haven’t been all that concerned with falling vehicle sales lately.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker were down 0.6% at $347.60 in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.1% and up 0.1%, respectively.

The move came as the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association released July sales numbers. Tesla sold 8,837 vehicles in the region, down 40% year over year. Through July, Tesla has sold 119,013 vehicles in Europe this year, down 34% from the 179,338 cars sold over the same span of 2024.

The problem isn’t the market. Overall, battery electric vehicle sales rose 34% to 186,440. Tesla’s market share slipped to about 5% from 11%. Year to date, Tesla’s share of European EV sales is down about 8 percentage points to about 8%.

Tesla sales were expected to pick up at some point this year, boosted by an updated Model Y, Tesla’s best-selling model. The sales recovery, however, hasn’t arrived yet.

Globally, Tesla sold 720,803 vehicles in the first half of 2025, down 13% year over year.

Investors would like to see higher sales. Tesla plans to introduce a lower-cost Model Y-type vehicle later in 2025, which could help, but investors have been far more concerned with AI lately.

Tesla launched an AI-trained self-driving taxi service in Austin, Texas in June. Coming into Thursday trading, Tesla stock rose 46% between the company’s Oct. 10 robo-taxi unveiling event and the launch of service. That jump was worth some $350 billion in market value.

Through Wednesday, Tesla stock was down 13% this year, and up 70% over the past 12 months.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com