Tesla Europe registrations rise 10% in February — but the bar was already on the floor

Tesla registered 17,425 vehicles across 15 major European markets in February 2026, a 10% increase compared to February 2025. It’s the first meaningful year-over-year growth Tesla has posted in Europe in over a year.

But let’s put this in context: Tesla is comparing against Q1 2025, which was a total bloodbath for the automaker in Europe. And despite the February bump, Tesla’s year-to-date registrations are essentially flat, 25,451 units in January-February 2026 versus 25,474 in the same period last year.

February numbers by country

The February data reveals a deeply uneven picture across European markets. Some countries posted strong year-over-year gains, but several key markets continued to deteriorate.

The biggest winners were Portugal (+112%), Spain (+74%), Germany (+59%), and France (+55%). France led all markets with 3,715 registrations in February, making it Tesla’s top European country so far this year with 4,377 units YTD. Germany came in second with 2,276 February registrations, and the UK was third with 2,422.

On the other side, the UK saw registrations plunge 37% compared to February 2025 — an improvement from January’s 57% crash, but still a significant decline in what was Tesla’s largest European market in 2025. The Netherlands continued its freefall with a 45% drop, Denmark was down 18%, and Sweden fell 10%.

Norway, traditionally Tesla’s strongest per-capita market, rebounded with 1,210 registrations in February, up 32% year-over-year. But Norway’s January was catastrophic, just 83 registrations, so the YTD picture there is still dismal at 1,293 units, compared to 1,606 through February 2025.

The low comparison bar

Here’s the problem with celebrating a 10% February increase: Tesla is comparing against some of the worst months in its recent European history.

Q1 2025 saw Tesla’s European registrations crash 37% compared to Q1 2024, with the brand hemorrhaging market share while the broader EV market surged. Tesla registered just 53,952 vehicles across these 15 markets in the entirety of Q1 2025 — a quarter that Electrek described as a bloodbath at the time, and the data only got worse from there.

February 2025 itself was a particularly weak month, with only 15,775 registrations. So Tesla’s 17,425 in February 2026 is essentially recovering to where the brand was during what everyone acknowledged was a crisis period.

The year-to-date total tells the real story: 25,451 units through February 2026 versus 25,474 through February 2025. That’s a difference of negative 23 vehicles. Tesla is running exactly even with its worst start to a year in recent memory.

March will be critical

Tesla’s European registration patterns are heavily back-loaded within each quarter, with massive spikes in the final month as ships arrive from Gigafactory Shanghai and Gigafactory Berlin ramps deliveries. In Q1 2025, March accounted for 28,478 of the quarter’s 53,952 total — more than January and February combined.

If Tesla follows a similar pattern in 2026, Q1 could land somewhere around 54,000-55,000 units. That would be essentially flat with Q1 2025, which, again, was already a quarter where Tesla fared worse than any other automaker in the EU.

Meanwhile, BYD opened 2026 with 18,242 registrations in January alone, a 165% surge year-over-year, and continues to expand its European dealer network and model lineup aggressively.

Electrek’s Take

The 10% February increase is technically positive, and we should acknowledge that it’s better than the 13 consecutive months of year-over-year declines that preceded it. But calling this a recovery would be generous to the point of dishonesty.

Tesla is comparing against its own catastrophe. Q1 2025 was the quarter where the brand lost more market share in Europe than at any point in its history, driven by a combination of product staleness, boycotts related to Elon Musk’s political activities, and surging Chinese competition. Matching that pace is not recovery, it’s stabilization at a much lower level.

The real test comes in Q2 and beyond, when Tesla will start comparing against the later months of 2025 where the numbers were just as bad. If the refreshed Model Y and Gigafactory Berlin can sustain the momentum we’re seeing in France, Germany, and Spain, there’s a path to recovery. But the UK and Netherlands trends are deeply concerning, these are major markets where the decline is accelerating, not stabilizing.

We’ll need to see March data to get a full picture of Q1 2026. But so far, the best that can be said is that Tesla has stopped the bleeding in some markets. The patient is still in critical condition.