Tesla Registrations Have Completely Tanked In Canada
Tesla's registrations in Canada have fallen a whopping 67% in the first half of 2025 as the automaker continues to shoot itself in the foot. Of course, you can blame CEO Elon Musk for a lot of that — especially his dealings with the Trump Administration that left a bad taste in a lot of Canadians' mouths. It's not all his fault, though. There have been plenty of external setbacks as well.
Buyers across Canada have registered just 9,000 Teslas from January through June, according to a report from Automotive News.That's a miserable number no matter how you look at it, but it gets even bleaker when you consider the fact Tesla delivered over 26,000 new vehicles in Canada over the first half of 2024, data from S&P Global Mobility shows.
To be fair to Tesla, EVs in general have fared pretty terribly in Canada this year. Registrations are down 32% in the first six months of this year compared with last. A lot of that blame can be attributed to the fact that the country froze the Incentive for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program in mid-January (later accusing Tesla of trying to game the system and banning it from future incentives). It's similar to what the U.S. is planning to do with our federal EV tax credit program at the end of September. Canadian buyers also faced major changes to Quebec's Roulez Vert rebate program, which included a hiatus in February and March.
Tesla does stand above the rest when it comes to issues in Canada, however. the automaker decided to raise prices massively in Canada, including on its best-selling Model Y and Model 3, starting on February 1. Prices went up again in April, in response to Canada's 25% retaliatory tariff imposed on vehicles imported from the U.S. that are sold in Canada.
At the height of the price increases in April, a new Model Y could cost as much as $84,990 (Canadian dollars). Eventually, prices were brought back down to $64,990 earlier this week, but that's still up from the $59,990 starting price they had to ring in the new year. Things are just as gnarly for the Model 3 sedan — which now costs $79,990. That's up from $54,990 to start the year, AutoNews reports. Ouch.
Tariffs and price increases aren't Tesla's only issue, though. Musk's tendency to post through his feelings also looks to be a driving cause behind Tesla's dip in the country. In February, Musk posted on X, the everything app, that "Canada is not a real country," after Trump said he was considering annexing Canada as the 51st U.S. state.
The post was later deleted, but the damage was done. Consumer sentiment toward the Austin, Texas-based brand has tanked over the past year, according to Automotive News. In a recent study by J.D. Power, just 13% of Canadian consumers in the market for an EV said they would even consider buying a Tesla. That's down from 29% who previously said they may buy a Tesla.
I don't really know what Musk or Tesla can do to turn things around in the country, but I fear it might actually be too late. The Canadians may forgive, but they don't forget.
