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Elon Musk has gone from dabbling in far right-wing conspiracy theories and ideas to doing what seems to be a full-on Nazi salute — twice. It seems this has hurt Tesla’s sales in California, one of its most significant markets, considerably, and Tesla actually had fewer automotive sales in 2024 than in 2023 globally and BYD sold considerably more BEVs in the 4th quarter than Tesla to take the BEV crown. Nonetheless, Musk has been doubling down, gobbling up more and more conspiracy theories on X, and practically acting like a sticker on Donald Trump’s sizable bum — including throughout the holidays.
Some Tesla fans who find Musk’s behavior abhorrent and harmful still avidly support the company because of all the good it does and all of the good people working there (and normally also because of financial stakes they have in the company, as many are still hesitant to sell their TSLA stock). However, with each round of extremism, more Tesla fans, owners, and shareholders are saying enough is enough.
In the Netherlands, a pretty righteous nation that leans left on the political scale, civil service pension fund ABP — one of the biggest pension funds in the world — recently decided to sell its stake in Tesla [NASDAQ:TSLA]. At the end of 2023, it had €782 million worth of Tesla shares. Many Dutch Tesla owners find themselves in a similar “I can’t take any more of this” boat.
A recent survey by EenVandaag got responses from thousands of EV owners and lessees, including 432 people who owned or leased a Tesla. “Of those, 31 percent are either contemplating selling their car or have already done so,” the survey found. In total, 40% of owners felt embarrassed to own the brand after all that had happened. Obviously, this is something that happened after falling in love with Tesla cars, the Tesla brand, and potentially even Elon Musk. It’s a serious turnaround. In short, we’re not just seeing aversion to Tesla from people who own other cars — we’re seeing it from a huge portion of Tesla owners. That’s not a good thing for future sales, even if these owners decide in the end to not sell their Teslas.
“The dissatisfaction stems largely from Musk’s recent actions, including his involvement in European politics, his role in spreading and allowing misinformation on the platform X (formerly Twitter), and his position in President Donald Trump’s administration following substantial financial contributions to Trump’s campaign,” NL Times writes.
“Musk’s leadership of X has also led to a decline in platform users. Nearly half (46 percent) of X users surveyed said they have recently left or are considering leaving the platform, citing it as a ‘toxic, hate-driven medium’ rife with conspiracy theories and misinformation.”
2024 is over. Sales were not great, but they were nearly at the level of 2023 for Tesla, which is still a very high level. The company almost reached 2 million sales. Will all of these political matters hit hard enough that Tesla will continue to decline, and 2023 will have been its peak, or was 2024 just a blip in continue long-term growth and success? How many potential buyers are actually going to not buy a Tesla because of Elon Musk, and how many will specifically buy a Tesla because of Elon Musk? These are some of the biggest questions for the EV industry in 2025. Not only do they affect Tesla and Tesla stock (presumably), but they also affect the sales of EVs from other brands and the overall EV industry narrative.
The Netherlands is a pretty unique place. I lived there for 5 months and have been a fan of the country for decades. It’s been one of the most interesting EV markets to watch. I’m curious to see if the sentiment found in this survey amounts to much in terms of Tesla’s actual sales trends in the country (or if it’s more talk than action), and I’m also curious to see how much these kinds of feelings and actions extend to other countries — such as Germany, France, and Scandinavian countries. We’ll see….
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