---
title: "Tesla Sees Catastrophic Sales Decline in Australia"
description: "Tesla's Australia division is seeing a massive hit to its bottom line amidst plummeting sales throughout the globe."
date: "2025-03-05"
modified: "2025-03-05"
authors:
  - name: "Joe Wilkins"
    job_title: "Correspondent"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins"
url: "https://futurism.com/tesla-sales-australia-catastrophic"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Tesla"
tags:
  - "australia"
  - "elon musk"
  - "evs"
  - "tesla"
---

# Tesla Sees Catastrophic Sales Decline in Australia

![Tesla's Australia division is seeing a massive hit to its bottom line amidst plummeting sales throughout the globe.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/tesla-sales-australia-catastrophic.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty / Futurism\</em\>*

The past few months have not been kind for Tesla's shareholders, as massive sales slumps in [Germany](<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/business/tesla-germany-sales-elon-musk.html>), [China](<https://futurism.com/tesla-sales-china>), [France](<https://www.tipranks.com/news/teslas-february-sales-plunge-26-in-france-as-2025-struggles-continue>) and [greater Scandinavia](<https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-sales-decline-across-scandinavia-musk-faces-test-brand-2025-03-03/>) drag the company's stock price [through the mud](<https://www.barrons.com/articles/tesla-stock-buyer-strike-musk-fc1fa76d>).

Tesla's nosedive coincides with Elon Musk's first full month as unelected vizier to Donald Trump, a corporate power grab which has been met with [widespread disgust](<https://futurism.com/tesla-targeted-protests-vandalism>) bubbling over into [property destruction](<https://futurism.com/wave-vandalism-protest-tesla>).

Investors hoping for a break will have to keep waiting, because new reporting is showing a [disastrous drop](<https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/motoring-news/tesla-sales-dive-continues-in-february-2025/news-story/e7e389c9f71fb907258c08a6cf97a817>) in Australian Tesla sales in February — to the tune of a catastrophic 70 percent compared to 2024. That's more than double an [already agonizing](<https://www.drive.com.au/news/tesla-records-lowest-australian-sales-in-two-years/>) 33 percent drop in January, the company's [worst performance](<https://thedriven.io/2022/08/03/polestar-leads-ev-sales-in-july-as-market-waits-tesla-invasion-starting-this-week/>) since 2022.

On its own, new Aussie registrations for Tesla's Model 3 tanked by a stomach-churning 81.4 percent in February, compared to the same month last year.

Some commenters have noted Tesla's slump is part of a [broader decline](<https://manofmany.com/rides/cars/tesla-sales-australia>) in EV sales down under. That said, sales of BYD's Shark 6 — a Chinese-made hybrid truck — shot up to become the [third best-selling](<https://thedriven.io/2025/03/05/australian-ev-sales-down-once-again-in-february-tesla-still-leads-and-hybrids-surge/>) utility vehicle in its second month on the Australian market, showing the country still has appetite for electrified vehicles.

Internally, Tesla is definitely not freaking out. A little after midnight yesterday, Tesla North America [desperately posted](<https://x.com/tesla_na/status/1896795063965102435>) a flurry of generous offers to court new buyers, starting with "0 percent APR now available for all Model 3 trims," followed up [by promising](<https://x.com/tesla_na/status/1896795373320237486>) "$0 due at signing also available."

The company's sad performance follows a [growing stigma](<https://futurism.com/tesla-drivers-shamed-by-protesters>) attached to Tesla's brand, which at one point was a leading institution for feel-good [consumer progressivism](<https://jacobin.com/2018/02/elon-musk-hyperloop-public-transit-tech>).

Former consumer activists, EV fanatics, and drivers who once took advantage of the carbon tax credit are now [shedding their Teslas](<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/business/tesla-boycott-elon-musk.html>) in disgust. Others are disguising the company's emblem on their hood in a [desperate bid](<https://nypost.com/2025/02/25/tech/tesla-owners-disguising-their-cars-amid-fear/>) to avoid associating with Musk's brand — a task complicated by Tesla's [unmistakable designs](<https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-features>).

Probably the most superficial protest is the bumper sticker declaring "I bought this before Musk went crazy," a sentiment which some longtime critics say comes about [seven years](<https://www.jalopnik.com/the-cut-off-for-those-i-bought-this-before-i-knew-elon-1851757974/>) too late.

Meanwhile, real protests of all stripes have been organizing around the shared goal of tanking [Tesla's bottom line](<https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/should-elon-musk-be-worried-what-is-tesla-takedown-a-movement-that-is-gaining-ground-in-u-s-and-europe/articleshow/118713849.cms?from=mdr>), an effective — if uncoordinated — strategy so far. The efforts range from [picketing the company's stores](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/03/03/tesla-protests-elon-musk-doge/>) to [haranguing Tesla drivers](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/gold-cybertruck-owner-harassed>), and in some cases [destroying Tesla's property](<https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/elon-musks-actions-leading-to-incidents-of-arson-and-vandalism-against-tesla-vehicles-heres-the-truth/articleshow/118741889.cms?from=mdr>) with bricks and Molotov cocktails.

It's all gotten the attention of Tesla's [heaviest shareholders](<https://electrek.co/2025/02/04/theres-finally-some-tesla-tsla-shareholder-momentum-to-fire-elon-musk/>), some of whom have [taken to social media](<https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-elon-musk-tesla-investors-upset-are-you-working-remotely-tesla-investors-are-challenging-elon-musk-using-his-own-words-heres-why/articleshow/118706606.cms?from=mdr>) to blast Musk for abandoning Tesla and taking up residence in the federal government.

All told, it's been one of the [worst months](<https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/04/elon-musk-first-month-in-white-house-was-tesla-worst-month-since-2022.html>) in Tesla's history, and as [consumer spending slows](<https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-consumer-spending-falls-january-monthly-inflation-rises-2025-02-28/>), there's no telling what disappointments await the EV giant in the months ahead.

**More on Tesla:** [*Elon Musk Is Flagrantly Gutting an Agency in Charge of Regulating Tesla*](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-doge-gutting-nhtsa-tesla>)

## Author
At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/joeonhere.bsky.social>)