Musk's embrace of right-wing politics risks turning off car buyers and
sinking Tesla's stock
[March 04, 2025] By
BERNARD CONDON
NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk's car company is required each year to report
to investors all the bad things that could happen to it, and the latest
version lists every imaginable threat from costly lawsuits to
out-of-control battery fires to war and another epidemic.
But there’s barely any mention in the latest annual update of Musk’s
full-bore entry into right-wing politics, which some experts say is
turning off potential customers who don’t share his views.
“It's marketing 101: Don’t involve yourself in politics,” said New York
brand consultant Robert Passikoff. “People will stop buying your
products.”
It may be too late.
Tesla sales plunged 45% in Europe in January, according to research firm
Jato Dynamics, even as overall electric vehicle sales rose. That comes
after a report of falling sales in California, its biggest U.S. market,
and the first annual drop globally for the company last year.
“I don’t even want to drive it,” said Model 3 owner John Parnell, a
Democrat from Ross, California, adding that he also is cancelling his
order for the company's Cybertruck, losing a $100 deposit. “He's
destroying the brand with his politics.”
Car industry analysts say it's too early to say for sure how much damage
Musk is causing to Tesla because so many other factors could explain its
current troubles. It's best selling vehicle, the Model Y, is coming out
with a new version this year, leading potential Tesla buyers to hold off
purchases right now. And European and Chinese manufacturers are finally
catching up to the world's EV leader, offering cars with battery life
and dependability that are competitive.
But, if anything, that makes Musk’s political comments even more
reckless, auto analysts say.
“Musk thinks he can say anything he wants to and doesn’t think Tesla
will suffer any consequences,“ said Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein.
“Tesla was in the sweet spot. Now it has competition.”
The sales numbers were particularly bad in Germany and France in
January, down roughly 60% each, more than the average decline for the
more than two-dozen European countries surveyed. Sales in France fell
another 26% in February.
More worrisome was the breakdown for Tesla’s individual models. Sales of
Tesla’s Model 3 dropped 33% across all European countries even though
that car is not being updated and there is no reason for buyers to wait
“Part of the population is not happy with his views, his political
activism,” said Jato senior analyst Felipe Munoz who had shrugged off
the boycott threat earlier this year, but is now having second thoughts.
Many Tesla buyers used to be wealthy, environmentally-conscious
professionals, often liberal, who were attracted to Musk's talk about
how his EVs could help save the planet from fossil-fuel destruction.
Not anymore.
“I used to be adored by the left,” Musk said in an interview with Tucker
Carlson on February 18 as his stock was halfway through a nearly 30%
plunge for the month. “Less so these days.”
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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference
and Exhibition, March 9, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh,
File)
 His decision to spend $270 million
on Donald Trump's presidential campaign and publicly back him was
risky enough for his business. Then he doubled down, pursuing a
slash-and-burn strategy as head of Trump's government efficiency
team and taking his political revolution and incendiary talk abroad.
He has backed the far-right, pro-Russian, anti-Muslim party in
German y, called the British p rime minister an “evil tyrant” who
runs a “police state," and stated recently about a U.S. neighbor and
major Tesla market, “Canada is not a real country."
The backlash has been fierce.
Tesla showrooms in the U.S. have been besieged by protesters, its
vehicles vandalized and bumper stickers appearing on its cars with
sayings such as, “I bought it before Elon went nuts.”
An effigy of Musk was hung in Milan and image of him doing a
straight-arm salute projected on a Tesla factory outside Berlin. In
London, a bus stop poster of him above the word “swasticars” lit up
social media. A Polish government minister called for a Tesla
boycott.
“I will not buy a Tesla again," said Jens Fischer, a 50-year-old
microscope salesman in Witten, Germany, who thinks Musk is
“destabilizing democracy” and has slapped one of those “Elon went
nuts” stickers on his Model 3. “I’d sell if I got a good offer.”
Tesla investor Ross Gerber says Musk has somehow managed to marry
the world's best product with the world's worst marketing.
“People want to buy stuff that makes them feel good, you don't want
politics involved," said Gerber, a money manager whose portfolios
hold nearly $60 million in Tesla stock. “It's even worse when you
have such divisive issues, whether it’s firing climate scientists or
taking aid away from starving African children.”
Boycotts have a habit of fizzling out, and Morningstar's Goldstein
says that buying a car is too big a decision and costs too much to
make them successful targets, anyway.
One Tesla owner, Londoner Harry Chathli, is unmoved by the backlash,
saying he has no intention of getting rid of his Tesla S. He has
nothing but praise for Musk who he calls a visionary for
transforming "the way we think about transportation and the future
of our planet.”
But if Tesla's stock is any indicator, the company's prospects are
deteriorating, and Musk's position in the Trump administration isn't
helping. As of Friday, it has dropped 37% since its Inauguration
Day, a loss of $550 billion in investor wealth.
———
AP Business Writers Pan Pylas in London and David McHugh in
Frankfurt contributed to this story.
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