With its battery-electric vehicle registrations down 9.5% in November 2024 against the same period last year, Tesla (TSLA, Financials) is running into roadblocks in Europe. More worrisome even, industry data show that the company's market share dropped sharply and that unit sales dropped 40.9% year over year.

Two of Tesla's main markets, Germany and France, experienced considerable drop in BEV registrations: down 21.8% and 24.4% respectively. With its share lost from 16.3% in November 2023 to 15% this year, the European BEV market as a whole declined as well. As people turned toward these substitutes, hybrid-electric cars gained momentum and increased by 18.5%. Diesel and petrol vehicles also saw reductions; diesel dropped 15.3% while petrol dropped 7.8%.

Tesla's rivalry is becoming fierce. Rivals with reasonably priced and varied electric and hybrid alternatives include Volkswagen ( VWAGY, Financials) and Renault (RNSDF, Financials). These brands barely grew in spite of a difficult market, even as the European automotive industry shrank more generally.

From 443,956 in the previous quarter, Tesla delivered 462,890 cars worldwide in the third quarter of 2024. But performance differed depending on the locale. Though monthly sales grew 15%, November sales in China dropped 4.3% year over year to 78,800 units. This decline is notable against the background of China's electric passenger vehicle industry, which is seeing explosive 51% increase where rivals like BYD are flourishing.

Although Tesla's new Cybertruck is much anticipated, experts are worried about the low demand for the pickup. Extended days on the market and low registration numbers point to it maybe falling short of expectations. Tesla's 2024 delivery estimate stays steady at 1.81 million cars even with incentives and price decreases.