Tesla sales in Netherlands halved in first quarter; 60% drop in March

Netherlands residents seem to be losing their enthusiasm for Tesla cars since founder Elon Musk joined the Trump administration in the United States. In the first quarter of this year, Tesla sales dropped by half compared to a year earlier. In March, sales were over 60 percent lower, according to sales figures by industry associations RAI and BOVAG.

In the first quarter of this year, the industry associations registered 3,443 Teslas in the Netherlands, down from 6,842 in the first three months of 2024. In March, Netherlands residents bought 1,536 Teslas, a 61 percent drop compared to the to 3,443 bought a year earlier.

Despite the significant drop, Tesla cars were still two of the top five registered models in March. Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y took second and third place after the Kia EV3 and before the Citroën C3 and Toyota Aygo X.

The fall in Tesla sales may also be partly due to the Dutch Cabinet scrapping tax benefits for electric vehicles. However, the total number of EV registrations in the first quarter increased by 7.9 percent compared to a year earlier. The market share of electric cars amounted to 35.3 percent in the first quarter. Hybrid cars remain popular with a 46.8 percent market share, while petrol cars continue to decline, now holding only a 16.5 percent market share.

The link to Musk’s political controversies is also visible in how the Dutch second-hand market is seeing an unprecedented number of Teslas available for sale. Netherlands residents have also protested against Musk and his prominent role in the American government at a rally outside a Tesla dealership in Tilburg, and by vandalizing the Tesla dealership in The Hague.