Tesla UK Sales 2026: Month-by-Month Review

Post written: 15 August 2026

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TITLE: Tesla UK Sales 2026: Month-by-Month Review

Tesla UK Sales in 2026: A Month-by-Month Review

After a bruising 2025 in which Tesla’s UK registrations fell sharply against a growing overall electric vehicle market, 2026 has told a story of two very different halves. The first quarter was marked by dramatic year-on-year declines in January and February before a strong March recovery, whilst the second quarter delivered the kind of numbers that will have given Elon Musk’s UK team some much-needed confidence heading into the second half of the year. Here is how the picture has unfolded, month by month.

The 2025 Baseline: A Difficult Year to Compare Against

To understand 2026’s trajectory, it is essential to grasp how challenging 2025 was for Tesla in Britain.

Tesla registered 45,513 vehicles in the UK throughout 2025, a 9.6% decline from the more than 50,000 units sold the previous year.

Tesla’s UK sales fell 8.9% year-on-year in 2025, a drop that echoed trends seen in other European markets, where Tesla sales suffered due to competition, an ageing lineup and Elon Musk’s political stance in Europe.

The Model Y held onto the top spot with 24,298 registrations in 2025, but that was down from 32,872 in 2024 — a 26% drop — and the model slipped out of the overall top 10 for the first time.

The year’s pattern was deeply uneven:

September was the strongest sales month of 2025 with 7,993 units, before sales dropped sharply in October to just 511 registrations — the weakest month of the year.

December 2025 closed the year at 6,323 units, according to New AutoMotive data,

a slump of more than 29% year-on-year.

January 2026: The Low Point

Tesla registered just 718 vehicles in the UK in January 2026 — a 50.8% decline from 1,458 units in January 2025.

It was a torrid start to the year, and one that sparked genuine concern about whether the brand’s UK momentum could be recovered.

Tesla’s EU registrations crashed 17% that month while the broader battery electric vehicle market surged.

February 2026: A Fourfold Sequential Bounce

February brought a fourfold sequential jump to 3,140 registrations. However, that figure was still 40.9% below the same month a year ago, as the company continued to face weakening demand across Europe.

February 2025 had been an exceptionally strong month for the brand — around 5,313 units — partly driven by fleet buyers rushing to register vehicles ahead of April’s Vehicle Excise Duty changes for electric cars. The 2026 comparison, therefore, was always going to look unflattering.

March 2026: The Turnaround Arrives

Tesla saw a sharp rebound in March 2026, with registrations rising 20% in the UK to 8,599 units. According to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the result marked the first year-over-year increase in six months.

This strong March, where Tesla registered 8,599 cars, maintained the Tesla Model Y as the UK’s best-selling EV.

Tesla reported that orders and reservations from customers continue to “far exceed” their respective months in 2025 and 2024, adding: “We continue into 2026 with an order backlog, indicating a strong demand for Tesla in the UK.”

Tesla totalled 11,739 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026, according to data published by the SMMT.

Despite the March rebound, first-quarter sales came in roughly 800 units below the same period last year.

April 2026: The Quarterly Dip

Tesla sold 831 vehicles in the UK in April 2026, a 62% year-over-year increase — marking the second consecutive month of sales above the previous year after six months of declining figures.

Although the percentage gain sounds impressive, it must be viewed in context: April 2025 had been exceptionally weak, with only around 512 units registered — the second-lowest month of that year.

April, July, and October have consistently been the slowest months, following strong finishes in the final month of each prior quarter.

The logistics of shipments from Giga Berlin and Giga Shanghai largely shape Tesla’s UK registration patterns.

May 2026: Steady Recovery Continues

Preliminary registration data tracked by the platform EU-EVs showed that Tesla sold 2,853 units in May 2026, a 42% increase from a year earlier.

May was the third consecutive month above the prior-year level, following six months of declining figures into early 2026.

The month also brought a significant milestone:

Tesla reported a 44% year-on-year increase in UK deliveries in May

as the company celebrated the delivery of its 300,000th vehicle in the UK.

The company was offering both the Model 3 and Model Y with a 0% interest rate and a £3,750 trade-in bonus — a campaign running until 30 June 2026.

June 2026: A Standout Month

June 2026 was, without question, the headline month of the year so far.

Tesla surged 57.7%, reaching #2 in the overall new car market with 12,173 sales and a 5.7% share — its best ranking and share since December 2024, and its largest volume since December 2022.

Tesla brilliantly managed a 1–2 finish in the model charts for the first time since December 2024, with the Model Y (+61.8%) at 3.2% share and the Model 3 (+52.9%) at 2.5%.

BYD registered 2,999 vehicles in the UK in June, meaning Tesla’s volume of 12,173 units dwarfed its Chinese rival’s figure by a considerable margin.

Electric cars were a major driver of overall market growth, taking a record 30% share of the market during June.

July 2026: Overall Market Grows, Tesla Cedes Top Spot

Britain’s new car market grew 11.7% in July 2026 with 156,571 units registered. The latest industry outlook expects 2.18 million new car registrations in 2026, with battery electric vehicles claiming 27.4% — still significantly short of the 33% mandate target.

In July, the Ford Puma reclaimed the overall top spot from the Tesla Model Y.

July is structurally a slow month for Tesla given its quarterly delivery logistics, and brand-level registration data broken down by manufacturer had not been publicly confirmed via SMMT at the time of publication. The overall market context —

battery electric vehicles surging 44.5% in July

— suggests the brand likely held its ground, but readers should expect official July brand data to emerge in due course.

The Bigger Picture: ZEV Mandate Pressure and Competition

Battery electric vehicles have accounted for 25% of all new car registrations so far in 2026, short of the government’s 33% target under the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate. To achieve that goal, EVs would need to account for more than 40% of registrations during the remainder of 2026.

Tesla spent the first half of 2026 digging out of a brutal slump across Europe.

The refreshed Model Y and Model 3 lineup, combined with aggressive pricing, appears to be pulling the automaker back toward its prior UK volumes rather than into new territory.

Meanwhile, the used Tesla market has been booming:

April 2026 was the strongest month ever recorded for used Tesla sales in the UK, with a total of 4,411 used Teslas sold, surpassing the previous record of 4,346 set in March 2026.

For the remainder of 2026, all eyes will be on whether June’s 12,173-unit performance was a one-off end-of-quarter surge or the beginning of a sustained recovery. September will be the acid test — in 2025 it was Tesla’s single strongest month at 7,993 units. Matching or bettering that figure in September 2026 would be a powerful signal that the brand’s UK recovery is real and durable.

UK Tesla Sales: Month-by-Month Comparison Table (January–July 2026)

The table below shows verified UK Tesla new vehicle registrations by month. 2025 figures are drawn from SMMT and EU-EVs data. July 2026 Tesla-specific registrations had not been confirmed at brand level at the time of writing and are marked accordingly.

Month	2025 Registrations	2026 Registrations	Change (units)
January	1,458	718	−740
February	5,313	3,140	−2,173
March	7,164	8,599	+1,435
April	512	831	+319
May	2,016	2,853	+837
June	7,719	12,173	+4,454
July	~600 (est.)	TBC	TBC
H1 Total	24,182	28,314	+4,132

Sources: SMMT, EU-EVs, Best Selling Cars Blog, Electrek, eletric-vehicles.com. February 2025 figure is derived from January–February 2026 YoY decline data (−40.9%). July 2025 is an estimate based on full-year residual. July 2026 brand-level data not confirmed at time of publication. Table will be updated when official figures are released.