stagnates

The era of traditional car manufacturers is over. We have to avoid being a new Nokia It was January 2020 and we were not very aware of what was coming our way when Herbert Diess, then CEO of the Volkswagen Group, pointed to another apocalypse. Specifically, that of traditional manufacturers in the face of the emergence of the electric car. Tesla was the reference when the top leader of the German firm spoke about his own company as if it were about to fall into ostracism. Today, six years later, the Volkswagen Group sells one in four electric cars in Europe. Two other companies have already passed Tesla. And a China looms on the horizon. How we have changed. IF you want to understand how much and how the electric car has grown in Europe you just have to take a look at how was the market five years ago. In 2020the best-selling electric car was the Renault Zoe, which reached close to 100,000 units on the market. It was followed by the Tesla Model 3, which was close to 88,000 units and already had a 6% market share. By then, the Tesla Model Y, which would soon become the best-selling electric car in Europe and the world (even including combustion ones), had not yet arrived. Of the 10 best-selling electric vehicles, the Volkswagen Group had three classifieds that barely added up 9% market share. In those days, Tesla seemed like the benchmark. A brand with a single model had managed to sneak into the top 10 best-selling electric cars. The first large mass electric SUV had not arrived. And even the leaders of Volkswagen feared for the future of their own company. The new Nokia. “The era of the classic car manufacturers is over. This is probably the most difficult challenge that Volkswagen has ever faced,” said Herbert Diess in January 2020 in statements reported by Reuters. And he put the finishing touch, if Volkswagen did not advance quickly it would become “the new Nokia.” The company embarked on a launch plan to put electric cars on the market at full speed. Along the way he started a questionable plan in which it was reached develop a single platform for two cars that arrived with enormous delay. And Cariad, which should have been a company of key software development for the brand, was unable to give them software up to par. In the years to come, Tesla ate up much of the European market although its relevance plummeted since last year. In 2022 Its market share among electric vehicles remained at 13%. In 2023 shot up to 18% and in 2024 it remained at 17%. The big fall came with 2025 in which it remained at just 8%. And things aren’t looking better this year. Overcome. In the first quarter of 2026, Tesla appears to have remained somewhat stagnant as more and more companies begin to add electric vehicles to the market. The Tesla Model Y continues to lead sales and the Tesla Model 3 is the third best-selling electric car in Europe. But electric sales have skyrocketed in Europe and Elon Musk’s people are not taking full advantage. In the first quarter of the year, have been sold in the European Union 546,937 electric cars, 32% more than in the same period in 2025. And the market share now almost reaches 20%, some four points above the figures from twelve months ago. In that period, Tesla has increased its overall market share from 1.3% to 2.0% and among electrics it has risen to just above 10%. However, traditional companies are pushing hard. The Volkswagen Group, which has added the arrival of more affordable cars like the Skoda Elroq (among the three best sellers in Europe) and has renewed a large part of the fleet it already had under its own brand sales have skyrocketed. And Stellantis or Hyundai/Kia threaten to overtake Tesla. BYD is also among the best sellers in Europe. Carefully. When taking European sales data, some care must be taken and it is preferable to make readings by quarter. And Tesla continues to have an enormous dependence on registrations in the last month of each quarter. The transition from March to April is a good example of this. And, as we said, in March Tesla marked a 10% market share among electric vehicles but in April there are already records (in the absence of those from ACEA) that lThey leave you at 8.9%. These fluctuations are more than common but they show that Tesla continues to be irregular in its month-to-month growth. The same as almost always. Despite the fluctuations, the truth is that Tesla has not managed to capitalize on the increase in electric sales as expected. Elon Musk himself anticipated global sales of 20 million units impossible things that seem very difficult to achieve, if not impossible. The company has been working to put smaller and more accessible models of the Model Y and Model 3 on the market with which to face the arrival of new launches from traditional brands. That has not happened and along the way they are being eaten up by those companies that were said to be “the new Nokia.” Furthermore, they have to face the arrival of a BYD that has burst in force. The Chinese company is already among the 10 manufacturers that sell the most electric vehicles in Europe and its deployment is in full takeoff ramp. Additionally, their success with plug-in hybrids is helping them raise awareness of the brand. For example (and although their plug-in hybrids are taken into account here), in the first quarter they sold 50,646 units in Europe, compared to 18,782 units in the same period of 2025. Photo | Carter Baran and Aidan Hancock In Xataka | Tesla wanted to make 20 million cars in 2030. The reality in 2025 is that Tesla has crashed and BYD is already leading