Image problem
Tesla slides to third place among electric vehicles in Germany
After VW, Tesla is now being overtaken by BMW in the German electric car market. Experts see an image problem – also because of Elon Musk – and believe additional discounts are possible.
Tesla is falling behind in the German electric car market. Multi-billionaire Elon Musk’s brand is only in third place this year – behind VW and BMW, as current figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority show. For the whole of 2022 and until mid-2023, the US group was at the forefront in terms of cumulative new registrations in Germany. Tesla also got off to a comparatively good start in the first few months of the year – but things have now turned around.
As of October, BMW has 33,167 new registrations of purely battery-operated electric cars (BEV) in the current year and is overtaking Tesla, which has 31,461 new registrations. The undisputed number one is VW with 49,234 electric vehicles. Both VW and Tesla are doing significantly worse in the currently weak BEV market than a year ago. At that time, the core brand of the Volkswagen Group had already delivered a good 9,400 more BEVs to customers than currently, Tesla even 23,300. BMW, on the other hand, is currently on a growth path in its home market and is up 6,600 cars year-on-year.
After all, Tesla’s Model Y is still the most registered electric car in Germany this year. But his numbers are also falling sharply. This affects Tesla, because the vehicle accounts for almost four fifths of the brand’s new registrations. At BMW and VW, however, the registrations are more widely spread across the different models.
Image problem for the brand and the maker
Martin Fassnacht, professor of strategy and marketing at the WHU Düsseldorf business school, also sees an image problem at Tesla. The crucial point is that Tesla no longer has much of a unique selling point. “The brand used to be cool, the smartphone on four wheels.” However, German manufacturers have now caught up and are offering sensible alternatives.
“In Germany, Elon Musk’s bad reputation in this country is damaging the brand. People don’t want to be associated with him,” explains Fassnacht. This scares potential customers away. Both the commitment to Donald Trump and joining X played a role here. “And if Musk takes on an important role in the Trump administration, this could even increase.”
Industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer also sees a negative Musk effect in Germany. The billionaire didn’t necessarily make friends in this country with his support for Trump. In addition, the models offered by Tesla are no longer the latest and the market as a whole is under pressure and Tesla has fallen behind with landlords and business customers.
The brand has not yet reacted particularly strongly with discounts – only a campaign on Model Y stock vehicles has had a significant impact. “I think Tesla must and will soon come with additional discounts – otherwise they will lose the market,” said Dudenhöffer.
dpa
Source: Stern
