Tesla (TSLA) Still Faces Tough Road Ahead in Europe

Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA) may have won fans in the U.S. over the last few years, but Europe appears to be a tougher nut to crack.

According to Bloomberg, only 958 units of Tesla's Model S have sold in Germany over the last eight months. The report cites data from Germany motor authority, Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA). The number compares with 5,149 deliveries of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and even BMW's i3 electric vehicle outsold the Model S by over 30 percent.

IHS estimates that Tesla sold about 11,700 vehicles in the U.S. and just 7,100 vehicles in Europe through the first half of the year, with many of those European sales happening in Norway and the Netherlands.

Analysts for IHS don't see the Model X changing Tesla's fortunes in Europe either, with the SUV still being relatively big and expensive.

The boom should happen with the launch of the Model 3 sedan, which is aimed at being a mass-market electric vehicle.

In the meantime, Tesla has no current plans to expand its Supercharger network in Germany and the company still hasn't filled the vacant European sales chief spot.

Shares of Tesla are up 1.2 percent.

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