Key Takeaways
- Tesla's (TSLA) new car registrations in Portugal plummeted by 48.5% in July compared to last year, according to ACAP data, even as overall new fully electric vehicle registrations in the country increased by 9.5%.
- In Italy, Tesla's (TSLA) new car registrations for July saw a 4.99% year-over-year decrease, contributing to a substantial 34.74% drop in registrations for the January-July period compared to the same period in 2024.
- Concurrently, EU banks are undergoing the 2025 EU-wide stress test, with results expected in early August, designed to assess their resilience to adverse economic scenarios.
Tesla (TSLA) is experiencing notable setbacks in European car registrations, with significant declines reported in both Portugal and Italy for July 2025. In Portugal, new registrations of Tesla vehicles fell by a substantial 48.5% in July year-over-year, with only 284 units sold, according to data from the Portuguese Automobile Association (ACAP). This sharp decrease contrasts with a positive trend in the broader electric vehicle market in Portugal, where new light fully-electric vehicle registrations actually rose by 9.5% in July. For the January-July period, Tesla sales in Portugal were down 27.4% to 4,372 units, while the total light electric car market grew by 27.2%.
Similarly, in Italy, Tesla (TSLA) new car registrations continued their downward trend, decreasing by 4.99% in July year-over-year. This marks the third consecutive month of decline for Tesla in Italy, with only 457 cars sold in July. The year-to-date figures are even more stark, showing a 34.74% drop in Tesla registrations from January to July compared to the same period in 2024, with 6,925 units sold. These declines come despite a revamp to Tesla's signature Model Y and suggest challenges for the EV maker in these European markets, potentially due to increased competition and other factors.
Meanwhile, the European banking sector is in the midst of the 2025 EU-wide stress test, a crucial exercise conducted by the European Banking Authority (EBA) in cooperation with the European Central Bank (ECB). The stress test, which uses year-end 2024 data, aims to analyze how banks' capital positions would evolve under both baseline and adverse scenarios through the end of 2027. The results, expected to be published in early August 2025, will be a key input for supervisors in assessing banks' Pillar 2 capital needs and overall resilience. The exercise involves 51 of the euro area's largest banks, representing approximately 75% of banking assets, with the ECB also conducting a parallel stress test for 45 medium-sized banks. The stress test is designed to strengthen market discipline through the disclosure of consistent and granular information, illustrating how common shocks could affect bank balance sheets.
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications.