Elon Musk has long been the public face of Tesla and has been persuading consumers to pay the premium price of electric vehicles that he has committed to helping them fight climate change. But when Musk sails towards conservative politics and emerges as close advisers to President Trump, some Tesla owners say they are rethinking their brand loyalty.
Wall Street analysts are worried that the Tesla brand may show some cracks, and in 2024 it’s down 1% from the previous year. This is the automaker’s first annual decline in sales, even if global EV sales rose 7.3%. They also say that while Musk’s political activity risks alienating consumers, protests have erupted at many Tesla dealers across the United States, close to the Trump administration.
“It appears that potential Tesla EV consumers may be separated from the company because they do not appreciate President Trump’s close relationship with Elon Musk and the administration’s tariff policy,” Joanstra said. Rading’s chief market strategist Mike O’Rourke told CBS. Money watch.
Since Trump took office on January 20th, the automaker’s stock has fallen 17% due to “visible perceived negative effects” of Musk’s involvement with the White House.
The obvious connection between Musk and the Tesla brand, the world’s wealthiest people, shows both the opportunity and the risks of linking the fate of a company to the character of a single executive. Musk has guided Tesla from its era of being a crude startup to the world’s largest producer of EVS, increasing its rating to over $1.2 trillion, making it one of the most valuable businesses in the world.
However, recently Official Inflammatory Statement Trump’s cost reduction task force, his role in leading government efficiency; Or dogeit seems that some Americans are turning off. A 2024 Pew Research Center poll shows that consumer political trends can take the decision to buy an electric vehicle.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on the impact of Musk’s political activities on automakers.
Customer dissatisfaction
Some first-time Tesla fans have said that Massachusetts’ Mina O’O’s will be selling the Tesla Model X, which it owned from 2015 to October, to CBS Money Watch. He spoke to.
“It was great for the environment and I got it because he was on the liberal side of politics at the time,” CBS Money Watch said of the mask. However, she added that by last fall, Musk felt that he had become “unstable and fundamentally correct.”
Ah, she said she was worried that driving a Tesla would allow others to let her know that she was in line with Musk’s political opinion.
“I don’t think I’m a tramper or want people to be associated with Elon because he’s so tied up with him.” “I’m so happy to sell it. If I were driving it today, I would be very embarrassed with the current climate.”
Jake Nickel is another former Tesla owner who distanced himself from the car company due to the reputation of masks’ evolution. The Chicago-based entrepreneur, an early EV fan, bought the first of three Tesla vehicles he finally bought in 2006: the Roadster sports car.
“It was so much fun seeing electric car companies come in and become viable,” he told CBS Moneywatch. He was no longer practical for his growing family, and sold the car for profit when it was replaced by the Tesla Model S and later replaced by the Model X.
However, Nickel said it sold the Model X in 2021. Because he was unhappy with the vehicle, and because of the change in mask’s public persona. He replaced it with a car from rival EV maker Libian.
“We weren’t satisfied with the way (Musk) was acting on many levels. It was a slow slide. He began to enter the cryptocurrency ‘part’ startup culture at the time. .
When asked if he had bought a Tesla again, Nickel replied, “It’s definitely not.” He is currently helping his son buy the car and is considering a Toyota Prius or Volkswagen EV.
Musician Sheryl Crow wrote in an Instagram post that she was a former Tesla owner who recently distanced herself from the brand, and sold her car for Musk’s recent political activism.
“It’s time for you to decide who you’re right for. A very long Tesla,” she wrote, and she donates the proceeds from the sale to NPR because the Trump administration wants to cut federal funds. He added that he was.
Wall Street analysts have expressed concern about the impact of masks’ reputation on the company’s sales. Sales of German Tesla, a major market, were included in Europe, which fell approximately 60% last month, according to Reuters.
“Mask’s Doge-related actions and a stronger alliance with Trump could alienate some consumers to leave the Tesla brand,” Ives, who remains bullish about the company’s outlook. He said this in his report on February 19th. “Since November, there has also been some momentum in the effort in Europe and the US pockets.”
According to Stephen Gengaro, an analyst at investment advisory firm Stifel, who believes masks can damage brand scores, Tesla measures consumer perceptions of brands based on survey responses “Pure Favor rating” is the lowest ever. Researchers asked consumers if they had a “preferred” or “unfavorable” impression of Tesla. We have determined ratings ranging from “very favorable” to “very unfavorable”. Respondents can also say they have never heard of or had no opinion about the brand.
Tesla’s favor ratings sank to 3%, down 6% points compared to the 6% points week that ended January 28th, according to data from the company’s research and analytics unit Stifel Sink Tank Group. I did. In January 2018, the company’s favorable rating was 33%.
“(m) Musk on the streets is seeing musk spending ‘100%’ on Doge as generating negative perceptions about his Tesla’s focus,” Gengaro wrote in his research notes.
Partisan division
More than half of Americans had a negative view of Musk, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted between January 27th and February 2nd. Of him, more than eight in ten Democrats said he saw him at a disadvantage.
These changing perceptions could be that in a recent February morning consultation survey, roughly 32% of US buyers have identified that they would not “consider” without purchasing Tesla. Report.
In states that voted for Democrats in the last four presidential elections, Tesla’s repeat buyers fell 7 percentage points over the past year, down 65% from 72% at the end of 2023 by the fourth quarter of 2023 has decreased to. Provided to CNN by S&P Global Mobility. It repeated buyers in states where Republicans barely voted high, rising from 47.6% to 48.2% over the same period.
In California, the country’s largest market for electric vehicles, total driver registration for Tesla cars fell 11.6% in 2024, according to data from Experian Automotive. Registration for all other brands increased by 1.4%, California’s New Automotive Dealer Association NCDA wrote in a January report.
Can Musk’s relationship with Trump actually help Tesla?
At the same time, some on Wall Street say Musk’s alliance with Trump has potential benefits. Perhaps most importantly, the Trump administration is aiming to weaken or eliminate federal rules governing Tesla’s main initiative, Tesla’s autonomous vehicle technology.
Musk has long had the ambition to launch fully self-driving cars with AI. The company is scheduled to begin self-driving in Austin in June, Musk confirmed. However, such efforts were slowed down by federal investigations into vehicle crashes involving Tesla “Fully automated driving” system Due to existing safety regulations.
“Trump’s election, and the bromance between Trump and Musk, will inherently lead to slandering the regulatory environment that has made Tesla stifled,” Ives told the Associated Press.
If the Trump administration makes it easier to regulate self-driving cars, it will “have an important tailwind for Tesla’s vision of autonomous and AI heading towards 2025,” he added.
Meanwhile, the decline in consumer perception of Tesla’s brand could simply be a short-term headwind, Gengaro said. In the long term, the company’s development of Robotaxis and self-driving vehicles could provide consumers with much more Tesla growth than the sales of vehicles, he added.
Tesla’s sales struggle could also be based on other issues besides Musk, such as increasing competition for EVs from other automakers. Also, Tesla’s decline in sales in Germany could be due to preferences among consumers of electric vehicles created by home-grown car manufacturers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.
