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..?
