Marketplace: "End of electric vehicle subsidies drives down October auto sales"
by Mitchell Hartman
EV sales are still growing strongly abroad, especially in Europe and China. Tesla is the only major U.S.-based auto company making a significant play in those markets.
But lately, it’s been struggling. Sales in Europe have fallen sharply, partly because of Elon Musk’s political unpopularity there, per Columbia Business School climate economist Gernot Wagner.
In China, Tesla’s problem isn’t politics; it’s prices. “There are cheaper, better electric vehicles available on the market,” he said.
Tesla’s fiercest competitor — Chinese automaker BYD — sells new EVs for as little as $10,000, which is just a fraction of the cost of a new Tesla.
Quoted in: "End of electric vehicle subsidies drives down October auto sales" by Mitchell Hartman, Marketplace (5 November 2025)
