Tesla’s new cheap variants fail to lift its fortunes in Europe. Plus: Is Ford really teaming up with Xiaomi?
If you’re an electric-vehicle enthusiast in the United States, you can’t help but be a bit jealous of Europe right now.
Increased competition from China has forced the European automakers to get better and better, and now, buyers have more and better choices than they’ve ever had. It’s little wonder why EVs outsold gas cars in Europe in December for the first time.
But Tesla, as of late, has largely been left out of that success story. Perhaps due to their bounty of EV choices, or the personal choices of CEO Elon Musk, Tesla’s European sales hit the skids in 2025. And the latest data reveals that trend probably isn’t changing soon.
Welcome back to Critical Materials, our morning roundup of industry and technology news. Also on deck today: The curious, repeatedly disavowed story of a Ford-Xiaomi tie-up deal, and why some U.S. car dealers are getting real about EVs.
25%: Tesla’s European Sales Show Few Signs Of Life In January
The new, more aggressively priced but aggressively de-contented Model Y Standard and Model 3 Standard were supposed to help lift Tesla’s sales in Europe and other markets. But if January’s sales data is any indication, it’s not really working. Here’s Reuters with more:
Elon Musk’s full-electric brand, whose market in the continent shrank 27% last year, registered 26% more cars in Sweden and 3% more in Denmark in January than in the same month of 2025, with 512 and 458 cars sold respectively, official data showed on Monday.
On last week’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Musk and his team made clear that they see a future well beyond cars at Tesla: AI, robotics, automated taxis and energy storage will carry the day. But its most consistent and profitable business line is still selling cars. If that continues its downward slide, it may become more of a problem than Musk would like to admit.
Our European correspondent will have a more in-depth review of the Model Y Standard soon. I’m eager to hear his thoughts on the car.
50%: A Ford-Xiaomi Tie-Up In The Works? Ford, Xiaomi Say No
Xiaomi SU7 (2026)
Xiaomi SU7 (2026)
Have you driven a Xiaomi lately? Unless you live in China, or are a Wall Street Journal columnist or popular YouTube reviewer, the answer is “probably not.” But more and more people across the global auto industry are aware of how good the Chinese gadget company’s first EVs are. Ford CEO Jim Farley famously drove one for a while and continues to be effusive about how good the car was.