Elon Musk appears be to turning off potential Tesla buyers with his embrace of far-right politicians around the world, analysts say, and the hit couldn't come at a worse time.

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.”

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

  • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.orgEnglish
    8·
    3 days ago

    Tesla stock has been wildly inflated on just a P/E basis for at least a decade at this point. Musk has gone from asset to ass … I mean, “liability.” Not great, but not his problem. Not like he’s going to be panhandling if he loses $100 billion.

    • jarfil@beehaw.org
      7·
      3 days ago

      Like every good billionaire, he’s been playing the stock game by taking on loans and exchanging stock, based on valuation (aka: hype). If the valuation plummets, then depending on his exposure, he could default on those loans and end up penniless.

      We don’t know his exposure level, he’s been avoiding anything that would require disclosing all his assets and liabilities, so we’ll have to wait and see.