Elon Musk: Has He Poisoned Tesla?
Tesla sales are down 13% on a year ago, and while increased competition from abroad is one factor, Musk's politics are most likely also having an impact... having prompted Tesla stores around the US to be vandalised, and some cars even set on fire.
Or rather it's possibly not the content of his political beliefs that's the problem, it's his style of doing politics... it's his outbursts and increasingly inflammatory associations that are maybe throwing a long shadow over Tesla's brand, investor confidence, and market position.
Once hailed as the visionary disruptor of the auto industry, Musk is now being faulted not just for his behavior, but for the degree to which his own politics have become linked with Tesla's corporate identity.
inevitably there is global variation in the lacklustreness of the performance....Tesla sales in Europe have collapsed—by 70% in Germany and 45% on the continent.
Tesla has dropped from cult-favorite to one seen by some as the emblem of tech-bro libertarianism. Tales of Tesla owners vandalizing their own vehicles with anti-Musk stickers like "I liked the car before Elon was crazy" show a strange sort of consumer backlash: people regretting not the product, but the person behind it.
Musk's politicization has also disturbed investors. His capricious governance of X (formerly Twitter)—where he has amplified far-right conspiracy theories, restored suspended extremists, and slandered journalists—has bled over into the attitudes towards Tesla.
Maybe unsruprisingly, Tesla's brand favourability is falling most steeply among women and left-wing consumers, two of the most significant demographics for the EV market. Institutional investors are also said to be pushing Tesla's board to consider governance reforms, alarmed Musk's diversions are impairing long-term strategy.
It could be that Musk will soon step aside as Tesla CEO, and that'd probably be a good thing for the company, he's now a fetter on the brand, maybe..?
Posted Using INLEO
Anecdotally, I heard on some news programs today that an American newspaper is reporting Elon's potential departure from the government. Since that unconfirmed “rumor”, Tesla's shares have already risen!
Source:
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/02/tesla-shares-rise-on-unconfirmed-report-elon-musk-could-be-leaving-doge-post-soon.html#:~:text=Tesla%20shares%20rose%20Wednesday%2C%20recovering,stock%20was%20last%20up%204%25.
Inside Elon Musk’s departure from DOGE — and the real reason behind why he’s leaving
Well pointed. All predicted. I thought it was a "move" that wasn't planed at all. Thanks for the clarification, PW!
I can't find myself giving a rat's arse.
TSLA is a meme stock at this point with an unrealistic valuation. It's held up by the cult of Musk as the company has very little going for it. It has shrinking sales with PE of a company that expects to grow at 50% per year for the next decade. If Elon steps down, Tesla would collapse. And I'd be here for it.
The narrative that its more than a car company and therefore gets a ridiculous valuation is baseless. Every promise has been empty for a decade now. The company still makes well over 2/3rds of their money on car sales. The AI company story falls apart now that xAI owns the AI part and licenses it to tesla. It's also way behind in robotics and it's taxi service seems like a pipe dream after getting turned off in China due to safety.
And while TSLA no longer accounts for the largest part of Elon's wealth, the Space X valuation seems very suspect. His last two capital raises that gave the company a $350 bllion valuation weren't raises at all. He shuffled around some shares between billionaire investors and claimed a much higher valuation. He did the same thing with twitter to give it a $44 billion valuation again before xAI absorbed it and he decided that made xAI an $80 billion company.
I'm starting to really appreciate the nickname "Enron Musk"
I have happily read that all these clockwork cars are suffering, sales slowing down. brilliant news, all hail to the ICE, Musk he isn't even human, but a vivitor from another dimension
https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/1jqsfgc/elon_musk_has_he_poisoned_tesla/
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Nice one @dkkfrodo
Thanks, Tesla seems like a hot topic right now!!
I guess the Tesla board isnt happy that so much of Teslas image is tied to Musk at this moment. But then again, I am not betting against the company which I think is gonna be hard to beat at this time.
The Leftist cult is trying to smeer a Great All American car company. Tesla stock is a great buy right now. Tesla will sell more cars than last year thanks to all the free ads the left have given Tesla.
Posted using Political Hive
Who knows! I guess quality and price will out at the end of the day!