*

Tesla's April car sales drop 62% in Britain, 46% in

Germany

*

EV market share for Tesla in Britain falls to 9.3%

*

Revamped Model Y deliveries expected to start in June

(Adds bullet points, changes media identifier, graphic, adds

Germany, SMMT data for Britain in paragraphs 3, 9)

By Alessandro Parodi

May 6 (Reuters) - Tesla's new car sales in

Britain and Germany plummeted to their lowest in over two years

in April, falling 62% and 46% year-on-year respectively, even as

demand for electric vehicles rose in both countries, national

data showed on Tuesday.

Sales of billionaire Elon Musk's EV cars also plunged to

multi-year lows in some other key European markets last month,

national data showed last week, as Tesla prepares to counter

competition from European and Chinese EV brands with the launch

of a revamped Model Y.

The brand's sales in Germany dropped to 885 cars in April, a

fourth month of declines this year amounting to a cumulative

year-to-date drop of over 60%, data from road traffic agency KBA

showed.

Britain had bucked the gloomy European trend for Tesla so

far this year, but last month, 512 new cars were sold, down from

1,352 in April 2024, according to the Society of Motor

Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

This led to a year-to-date EV market share of 9.3% for Tesla

in the UK, data from research group New AutoMotive showed.

That's down from 12.5% a year ago, according to the research

group's data.

Tesla's websites in Germany and Britain say that estimated

deliveries of the revamped Model Y will start in June, but it

will take a couple of months before sales data shows if the

updated version has won back customers.

Musk's closeness to U.S. President Donald Trump, his

politics and efforts to eliminate waste at U.S. governmental

agencies have spurred protests against him and the company, as

well as vandalism at its showrooms and charging stations across

the U.S. and Europe.

After the brand's first-quarter global sales and profit

missed estimates, Musk said two weeks ago he would cut back on

the time he devotes to the Trump administration and spend more

time running the company.

Overall car sales in Germany dropped by 0.2% in April, but

those of electric vehicles grew by 53.5%, KBA said.

In Britain, battery-electric car registrations increased by

8.1% in the month, while total car sales were down 10.4%, the

SMMT data showed.

EV sales in the UK slowed from the previous month due to

broader economic conditions, New AutoMotive said.

However, Volkswagen's battery-electric sales in

the country jumped 194% to 2,314 vehicles last month, while

registrations of China's BYD were up 311% to 1,419

cars, the research group said.