- Customers delaying purchase ahead of Tesla's Model Y refresh, known as the so-called Osborne Effect, may only be a small contributor to the automaker's European sales collapse compared to the CEO's fraying reputation. Over the past two years, the brand's market share in Germany plummeted to just 3.7% last month versus 23% in January 2023.
Most people tend not to be familiar with the Osborne effect, a relatively obscure economic term recited almost ritualistically by Tesla shareholders in recent weeks and months. It describes the propensity for consumers to postpone the purchase of a big-ticket item when they learn that a new, more-improved version of the same product is slated to launch in the foreseeable future, such as the refreshed Model Y debuting in March.
