In January, Tesla recorded a massive slump in its electric car sales in Europe: According to the European manufacturer association ACEA, the Americans sold only 9,900 vehicles, a good 45 percent less than in the same month last year. This reduced the market share from 1.8 to 1.0 percent. At the same time, sales of pure electric cars in Europe increased by 37 percent to 166,000 units, while gasoline and diesel sales fell by more than 20 percent each.

Industry observers attribute the decline at Tesla, among other things, to Elon Musk's recent political statements. The company CEO repeatedly promoted the right-wing populist AfD in Europe and criticized the EU as "undemocratic," which likely led to backlash from consumers.

Even compared to emerging competitors, the decline is noticeable: Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor increased its sales in Europe by 37 percent to 23,000 vehicles.

Overall, the European new car market fell by 2.1 percent in January to just under one million registrations.