Chinese automaker BYD saw its vehicle sales increase by 58% in the first three months of the year, presenting a stark contrast to the ongoing decline in demand for Tesla’s electric vehicles across Europe.

The Shenzhen-based group announced on Tuesday that it delivered 986,098 passenger vehicles in the first quarter. Of these, 416,388 were pure electric vehicles, marking a 39% increase. Enjoying a strong start to the year, BYD’s annual sales surpassed $100 billion for the first time, boosted by a resurgence in demand for hybrid vehicles within its domestic market.

Meanwhile, analysts have issued warnings that Tesla’s first-quarter deliveries, anticipated this week, are likely to show a decline exceeding 10%. This prediction comes as sales in France and other key European markets continued to fall in March, even following a significant model update.

Norway offered a glimmer of hope. The new Model Y, launched in the first week of March, reclaimed its position as the country’s best-selling car after experiencing two months of sharp decline. Vehicle registrations in Norway recovered substantially following a 48% drop in February, decreasing by only 1% to 2,211 vehicles in March.

Tesla began delivering the upgraded Model Y, its most popular model, in China at the end of February and rolled it out across Europe starting in early March. Despite this, official data released on Tuesday revealed that new car sales in France plummeted by 37% year-on-year in March, down to 3,157 vehicles. Similarly, sales in Sweden experienced a significant drop of 64%, falling to just 911 units.

Tesla sales have faced a considerable downturn in Europe since the start of the year. According to the Financial Times, analysts remain divided on the primary cause, debating whether the slump stems mainly from public reaction to CEO Elon Musk’s pronounced involvement in regional politics or from an aging product lineup.

Even before the release of March’s sales figures, analysts were already revising down their forecasts for Tesla’s first-quarter deliveries, which are typically announced around the second day of April.

Last week, Deutsche Bank reduced its forecast by approximately 50,000 vehicles, bringing the estimate down to 345,000 units. This figure represents an 11% decrease compared to the same period last year. In contrast, RBC Capital Markets anticipates deliveries reaching 364,000 units.

In a note, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu remarked, “Beyond the numbers, we feel that there has been some brand damage in Western Europe and pockets of the US or Canada due to Elon Musk’s political activities, which is hurting demand.”

Tesla vehicles and dealerships have reportedly become targets of protests in both the US and Europe. This follows Musk’s unprecedented engagement in European political discourse and perceptions of his significant influence within the White House sphere.

Many believe Tesla is well-positioned among automakers to navigate potential tariff conflicts initiated by Donald Trump, largely due to its substantial manufacturing presence in America. Nevertheless, the company remains exposed to risks, as it sources a portion of its vehicle components from international suppliers outside the US.

The company recently issued a warning, suggesting that Trump’s proposed tariffs could potentially trigger retaliatory tariffs against the US. Such a scenario could increase the cost of manufacturing vehicles within America, impacting Tesla’s operations.

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to preserve chats conducted by senior officials via the Signal messaging app, including messages mistakenly shared with a reporter earlier this month concerning an imminent military operation in Yemen.

US District Judge James Boasberg issued the ruling on Thursday at the request of a transparency group that sued, alleging the app’s auto-delete function risked destroying the messages in violation of the Federal Records Act.

During a brief afternoon hearing, Justice Department lawyer Amber Richer told Boasberg such an order was unnecessary because the relevant agencies were already taking steps to preserve the records. However, she did not object to the judge reinforcing this with a court order.

“We are still in the process of working with the agencies to determine what records they have, but we are also working with the agencies to preserve the records they do possess,” Richer said.

However, the government lawyer appeared to acknowledge a court filing made earlier in the day by a Treasury Department official, which suggested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent currently possesses only a portion of the message chain related to the Yemen strike.

The journalist added to the message chain, The Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg, reported that the chat began on March 11. Yet, Bessent only has messages starting from the afternoon of March 15. It remains unclear why Bessent failed to preserve the earlier messages or whether other senior officials in the chat retained them.

Richer stated to Boasberg, “I want to note that we are still determining what records the agencies possess.”

The Atlantic published parts of the messages earlier this week and the remainder on Wednesday after the White House stated it did not consider the exchanges classified, even though they described the scope and timeline of a military operation that had not yet occurred.

According to The Atlantic‘s report, national security adviser Mike Waltz, who initiated the exchange, had initially set the messages to auto-delete after one week but later changed the duration to four weeks.

Speaking from the bench, Boasberg ordered the defendants in the case—Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe—”to preserve all Signal communications between March 11 and March 15.”

This directive appears broader than just the messages shared with Goldberg; it could encompass other Signal messages sent or received by the officials during that period.

A Pentagon lawyer also submitted a written declaration stating the Defense Department was attempting to preserve these records as well but did not claim any records had been recovered. The administration suggested that The Atlantic‘s publication of the entire exchange, except for the redaction of a CIA officer’s name, ensured the messages’ preservation.

At the start of the hearing, Boasberg also responded to a social media post by President Donald Trump suggesting the judge had improperly gained control of the politically sensitive case.

Trump had called it “shameful” that the judge, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, was handling multiple legal cases involving the White House in recent weeks. In addition to the Signal case, Boasberg is presiding over a case involving Trump’s efforts to rapidly deport people using the Alien Enemies Act.

Boasberg addressed the matter, stating he “understood some questions had been raised” about how the court assigns cases. He explained that for the 15 active judges serving on the court, cases are randomly assigned across various categories in nearly all instances “to ensure a more even distribution of cases.”

Clerks use an electronic deck of cards within each category to determine which judge receives a newly filed case.

“That is how it works, and that is how all cases continue to be assigned in this court,” said Boasberg, who has served as the court’s chief judge since 2023.

Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk, pursuing a doctorate at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, US, was detained on March 25.

Speaking about the incident, which gained attention in the US, Senator Marco Rubio confirmed that Ozturk’s visa had been canceled.

Rubio stated, “We gave you a visa to get an education; not to be a social activist who destroys our campuses. If you use your visa to do that, we will take your visa back. I encourage every country to do the same.”

The US Senator continued, “If you lie to get a visa, and then engage in this type of behavior after arriving here, we will cancel your visa. And when your visa is canceled, you are no longer legally in the US. Like any country, we have the right to deport you. It’s that simple.”

The Senator also announced that the visas of approximately 300 students had been similarly canceled.

Rubio asked, “It would be madness, even stupidity, for a country to let in people who say, ‘I’m going to go to your universities and start riots, occupy libraries, harass people.’ I don’t care what movement you are part of. Why should we accept that?”

Rubio said that individuals could carry out such actions “in their own countries, but not in the US.”

Last year, mass student protests occurred at many universities across the US to protest the administration’s support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

It is alleged that Ozturk, whose student visa was canceled, participated in “pro-Hamas” movements.

Rumeysa Ozturk’s lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, noted in a written statement to BBC Turkce that she was first able to speak with the young woman on the evening of March 27.

Referring to the moments of her client’s detention, the lawyer stated, “Nothing in this video indicates they were law enforcement officers or which agency they were from. This situation should deeply concern everyone.”

Khanbabai emphasized that Ozturk is a successful doctoral student at Tufts University on a Fulbright scholarship and stressed that the allegations of her being a Hamas supporter were “baseless.”

Video footage of Ozturk’s detention showed the doctoral student being surrounded by plainclothes officials on the street while heading to iftar.

The officials subsequently handcuffed Ozturk behind her back and led her to a vehicle.

In a written statement shared with BBC Turkce, Tufts University said, “We are in contact with the authorities. We hope Rumeysa will be given the opportunity to clear her name using her legal rights.”

Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunc declared in his statement that he strongly condemned the detention, arguing the incident was “proof that there is no freedom of thought in so-called democratic countries and that human rights are not respected.”

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel also condemned the detention, stating in his post that “hundreds of students in Turkey arrested groundlessly and unscrupulously are experiencing the same victimization.”