Tesla’s car sales in the UK dropped sharply in October, falling to almost half of what they were a year ago, according to new data from the research group New AutoMotive.
The company registered just 495 new cars last month, compared to 1,013 in October last year—a 51% plunge.
The slump mirrors the tough month Tesla has had across several European markets, including Spain, the Netherlands, and parts of Scandinavia. Analysts say the company’s aging lineup is becoming less appealing as traditional carmakers and fast-growing Chinese brands roll out fresher, more affordable electric models.
It wasn’t just Tesla feeling the slowdown. Across the entire British auto market, new registrations were down 17.7%, totaling 121,896 vehicles for the month.
The industry also faced unexpected disruption after a major cyberattack forced Jaguar Land Rover—Britain’s biggest carmaker—to shut down its factories for almost six weeks. The company has begun to partially restart production as of early October, but the pause weighed heavily on the country’s overall output numbers. Photo by U.S. Department of Energy from United States, Wikimedia commons.