DROP IN TESLA CAR SALES
In the lead up to Germany’s election last month, Musk – who is the world’s richest man – made an unprecedented entry into the country’s political scene by endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and shocking the establishment.
Observers noted that this might have been a controversial decision for the tech billionaire’s businesses – particularly Tesla, which counts Germany among its most important markets. The country is also home to its only factory in Europe.
Latest figures released in February show a significant fall in Tesla car sales across Europe.
In Germany, sales plunged 76 per cent, while other major EV markets – Norway, Denmark and France – registered drops of almost 50 per cent.
The poor showing is not just in Europe.
In California, the largest US market for EVs, sales have fallen for the fifth consecutive quarter.
Some automotive experts told CNA that this blow to Tesla is most likely a result of Musk’s political choices.
“When we compare all of the countries we are tracking individually model by model, we see that Tesla is either down or underperforming the market in almost every single one of those,” said Will Roberts, automotive research lead at EV research consultancy Rho Motion.
“It’s been popular and easy at the moment to look at the brand sentiment surrounding Tesla,” he added.
“Tesla is inextricably linked to Musk for sure, so we can’t ignore that. We can’t ignore what’s going on in the wider kind of political space and the wider conversation around that and around that brand.”
