On February 9, 2025, the pro-European news platform Other Europe posted on social media platform X that Tesla sales in the European Union had declined by 63%. This was accompanied with claims of an European boycott. But is it true? And how can we fact-check a global tech giant that doesn’t answer questions?
Our first port of call was Tesla Europe. We searched through the official website and sent repeated emails to eupress@tesla.com and regional offices in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. Silence. We also called each agency but no responses either. No press department exists; no one would agree to an interview or on-record comments. That void forced us to assemble a broader contact list of industry insiders and experts.
Over the next two weeks, we reached out to a broad spectrum of industry voices, bank economists, university mobility researchers, fleet managers, automotive analysts, leasing-company representatives and car-listing platforms. Most either didn’t respond or politely declined, yet a handful were willing to share insights.
From the handful who did engage we learned that ACEA’s figures show only a 49 % dip in February/March registrations, not 63 %. They explained that monthly fluctuations often reflect production pauses, subsidy changes and customers waiting for the new Model Y in June 2025, rather than talking about a boycott.
Piecing together these interviews, we also dug into Chinese EV growth and European registration patterns. Each of our experts stressed that the “boycott” narrative misreads normal market dynamics. In fact, Tesla’s overall market share increased slightly in the same period.
Ultimately, the toughest lesson we learned was on journalistic persistence: when a source goes silent, you must try to find different solutions. Only then can you correct a claim—and remind readers that real answers don’t come from headlines, but from the people who do talk and give classification.
RESEARCH | ARTICLE © Mouna Vannot, Linette Kusche and Vica Kolbeek from AP Hogeschool Antwerpen and Jade Hochschule Wilhelmshaven
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