COPENHAGEN, May 2 (Reuters) - Tesla sales in

some European markets fell sharply in April, in an acceleration

of a trend seen since the beginning of the year for Elon Musk's

EV brand, as Europeans buy more Chinese cars and some protest

against his political views.

Tesla's new car sales in April fell by 80.7% in Sweden,

national data showed on Friday, a day after Denmark recorded a

67.2% drop in Tesla sales and France reported a 59.4% fall, its

fourth straight month of sales contraction.

In Sweden, this was the lowest figure since October 2022,

when 43 new Teslas were registered, data from Mobility Sweden

showed.

The group's European sales dropped 28.2% in March as it

faces a number of challenges in the continent. Tesla is facing

increased competition from traditional automaker rivals, while

new Chinese entrants are launching new and often cheaper EVs.

Musk's embrace of far-right politics in Europe has also led

to protests against the billionaire CEO and the company, as well

as vandalism at its showrooms and charging stations across the

U.S. and Europe.

Other European countries, including Italy and Norway, will

release April car sales data on Friday.