Tesla's sales have fallen for seven consecutive months, and the situation is critical.

According to U.S. media reports, after the billionaire predicted that Tesla's sales would "recover significantly" several months ago, angry Europeans still did not buy his cars on Thursday when the data was released.

According to the data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, despite a surge in overall electric vehicle sales, Tesla's sales in 27 EU countries dropped by 40% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, Chinese competitor BYD continued to rapidly climb in sales, occupying 1.1% of the market share in all car sales for the month, while Tesla was 0.7%.

Tesla's stock fell 1.5% during afternoon trading on Thursday.

Musk has entered the political arena there, embracing far-right candidates, calling the British Prime Minister an "evil tyrant" who belongs in prison, and telling Germans that if they do not vote for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, their country's "situation will become very, very bad," thus angering many Europeans. Protests broke out in several cities, including hanging portraits of the billionaire in Milan, and putting up posters in London comparing him to a Nazi.

The company also has other issues that damage sales.

The company is still waiting for approval from European regulators to allow Tesla owners there to use its most advanced driver assistance features available in the United States, which is a big attraction for buyers. Musk had predicted that his so-called full self-driving software would be approved in March this year.

Another blow came from Tesla's decision earlier this year to temporarily shut down factories to reconfigure the new version of its best-selling Model Y sports utility vehicle.

The company hopes that a cheaper Tesla model launched in the last three months of the year will boost sales.

In total, the company sold 6,600 cars in the EU in July, compared to 11,465 a year ago. Despite a 39% increase in pure electric vehicle sales overall, it still saw a sharp drop.

For the first seven months of this year, Tesla's sales have declined by 44%. Throughout the period, not just in July, Tesla accounted for 1.2% of all car sales (battery, hybrid, and gasoline-powered) in Europe, while BYD was 0.9%.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841846154727436/

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