It may be the clearest sign to date that Tesla CEO Elon Musk Political maneuvers have turned. Tuesday, President Donald Trump was held alongside the technological billionaire and a Tesla red model outside the White House, declaring that he was buying the electric car so that his staff can use and pay the Grand Prix.
Trump’s unprecedented approval of the electric vehicle (EV) The giant comes after months of growing criticism on the deepening of Musk’s participation in both WE And foreign policy – including support for the far -right parties in Europe – and after billions of dollars have been deleted from Tesla’s shares.
That musk asked for public support from the president suggests that the events, consumer boycotts and even Sabotage attacks On Tesla vehicles, charging stations and production factories have disrupted the richest man in the world and frightened Tesla investors. Trump condemned these incidents as a case of “domestic terrorism”.
Could politics be blamed for the drop in sales of Tesla?
Tesla’s plunging sales added to pressure. In Germanywhere Musk used his Social media platform X has Approve the extreme right Alternative for Germany (AFD) Party before the national elections last month, Tesla’s registrations fell 76% in February compared to the previous year. EV registrations in Germany have increased by almost a third over the same period.
A similar trend emerges elsewhere, including France where Tesla sales fell 45% in the first two months of the year, while Australia saw sales of more than a third in the four months since Trump’s re -election.
In California, the largest American market for electric vehicles, Tesla Sales has dropped for the fifth consecutive quarter, according to California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA). In 2024, Tesla’s inscriptions in the Golden State dropped 11.6%.
Consumers seem to deviate from the Musk EV brand in the midst of accusations of political interference and a too comfortable relationship with Trump. Many owners of Tesla have put stickers on their electric vehicles in opposition to the change of musk to the right, with slogans who said: “Vintage Tesla – Pré -Madness Edition” and “I bought this car before Elon lost my head.”
“Musk thinks he can say whatever he wants and does not think Tesla will suffer consequences,” Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein told the Associated Press last week. “Tesla was in the Sweet Spot. Now he’s competition.”
A recent investigation into strategic vision Asked the Americans to appoint their favorite vehicle and although republican and democrats have chosen a VE on combustion engine models, none has chosen Tesla.
Daniel A. Crane, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan and author of a next book on Tesla, noted how, until recently, the automaker was “strongly identified with Ecologists concerns, “and how Tesla drivers” “sat” were politically seated “.
“In the past two years, Musk has almost burned its bridges with these constituencies. Also, given the arrival on the market of many other electric vehicles (startups like Rivian and Lucid and car manufacturers), people who want to drive an electric vehicle for climatic reasons no longer have to buy a Tesla,” said Crane DW.
Crane said that if Musk might think that Tesla can rather target Trump’s supporters on the right, “Maga’s people tend to be the most skeptical of VE”.
Numbered days for the “Teflon Elon” editor
Intense rivalry between electric vehicle manufacturers has triggered a major sale in Tesla’s stock. Over the past three months, Musk’s automaker’s automaker’s shares have dropped by almost half. Musk’s net value dropped $ 144 billion (132 billion euros) during the same period in the middle of the growing skepticism of Tesla’s promise to offer autonomous driving exploiting artificial intelligence (AI).
The company’s assessment culminated at more than $ 1.5 billion after the American presidential election, but only on Monday, Tesla’s stock dropped by 15%, in a market sale aroused by the fears of an American building recession.
Musk supported Trump’s campaign up to $ 250 million and has since become its main adviser to reduce government waste through the Government Ministry (DOGE).
Its involvement has aroused daily reports of reduced public sector spending, welcomed by many American voters, but criticized by activists, academics and legislators as a lack of appropriate surveillance.
Increasing indignation at the role of Musk in Doge
Tesla Takedown’s demonstrations recently broke out among dealerships in the United States on the role of Musk in Doge, which has so far canceled $ 60 billion in contracts which finance humanitarian programs around the world.
The Americans attend an “extraordinary centralization of power in someone who has no high -level security clearance and was not subject to any confirmation processes from the Senate,” the Ford School of Public Policy said last month.
Moynihan said that Musk’s access to sensitive data from the government without adequate supervision was “concerning” and “unprecedented”.
The other musk assets are still increasing
In addition to Tesla, Musk has Space X, the first private space company. Its other companies include Neuralink, which develops an interface located in the brain, XAI, which has created AI Chatbot Grok and the X social media platform. The infrastructure, construction and equipment company of tunnel named the boring company also belongs to Musk. He also has ambitions to colonize Mars.
Unlike Tesla, these companies are not listed publicly but can still be negotiated by investors on the secondary market. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the value of Tesla has dropped, the collective The evaluation of four of Musk’s private companies has increased by 45% from the elections, citing the analysis of the CAPLIGHT commercial platform. The course of XAI action has increased by 110% since November 5.
Between them, Musk companies have contracts worth $ 18 billion and $ 22 billion with the federal government, according to American media reports, although these figures cannot paint the full table, as many transactions are classified.
These contracts and the fact that Musk companies have been investigated or fined more than 30 times by 11 US government agencies, according to the New York Timeshave raised alarm ringtone on the possible conflicts of interest With its involvement with DOGE.
Before he even became an advisor close to Trump, investors had also wondered if Musk had spread too thin.
Is Musk’s time at Tesla’s bar?
Last month, Brad Lander, the New York controller, who oversees employee retirement funds who have Tesla shares worth $ 1.25 billion, told the New York Times This musk should resign as CEO of Tesla but stay on the board. That, he said, would make the manufacturer of electric vehicles to the “basic model of shareholders’ governance in America”.
While Musk publicly said that his involvement with Doge should last a year another year, one of the most optimistic investors in Tela of Wall Street, Dan Ives, now thinks that he should leave his commitment to the Trump administration.
“The clock struck midnight for Musk and Doge … He must also wear his hat as CEO of Tesla,” said Ives, who is World technological research test at Wedbush Securities, said to DW. “”The balance will be essential and this is what Musk must do to stop bleeding in Tesla’s stock. “”
A survey of the American investment bank Morgan Stanley published on Wednesday that 85% of investors thought that Musk’s passage in politics had an “negative” or “extremely negative” impact on Tesla’s affairs.
Musk himself admitted having had a hard time juggling with his many commitments, telling Fox Business on Monday that he headed his businesses “with great difficulty”.
Despite this, he seemed to double in his support for Trump’s presidency. THE New York Times On Wednesday, Musk planned a financial boost of Trump’s political operation worth $ 100 million, citing several people familiar with the plan.
The newspaper said that the donation was a “incredible” move by a member of the White House staff.
During his photo alongside Trump, Musk told journalists on Tuesday that he would stay in Washington as long as he was useful, but said that he would remain as CEO of Tesla.
Published by: Uwe Hessler