Musk's politics taking a toll on troubled Tesla

Asia Times

18-02-2025

Always something of a fashion statement, Tesla is now going out of fashion in Europe and parts of North America thanks to Elon Musk's hard political turn. At the same time, competition in the markets for electric vehicles (EVs), autonomous driving and self-driving taxis (robotaxis) is rapidly intensifying, putting Tesla's future at risk.
In Europe, sales of Tesla vehicles were down 50.4% year-on-year in January, according to data reported by EV Magazine and other news outlets. The largest declines were recorded in Spain (75.4%), France (63.4%) and Germany (59.5%).
In Holland, where Tesla registrations hit an 18-month low, NL Times (Netherlands news in English) reported bumper stickers reading 'I bought a Tesla, not an Elon' and 'Where is the Stop Elon button on this thing?' – as well as swastikas spray-painted on a Tesla dealership building in The Hague.
In the Netherlands, EV sales were led by Kia Motors, Volkswagen and Volvo (which is owned by China's Geely) in January. BYD registrations were up sharply in the UK.
Now the blowback has spread to North America, where some 50 anti-Musk/anti-Tesla demonstrations have been reported from the San Francisco Bay Area to Manhattan. Acts and threats of vandalism, including arson and suspected arson at dealerships, have been reported at several locations in the US. Police are investigating a broken window and a fire at a Tesla dealership in my hometown of Salem, Oregon.
The Action Network, 'an open platform that empowers individuals and groups to organize for progressive causes' on the Internet, posted an invitation to a 'TeslaTakedown' event on February 15, sponsored by Troublemakers of Seattle. 'Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines,' it read. 'Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk. Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy.'
A poll by Electrifying.com ('The Electric Car Experts') showed that 59% of prospective car buyers were unlikely to purchase a Tesla because of their dislike for Elon Musk. The same poll shows that 61% of EV owners and 56% of prospective buyers are open to purchasing a Chinese EV.
Many Europeans object to Musk's support for right-wing political parties in Germany and the UK, and his association with President Donald Trump. Left-leaning Americans object to his use of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) to gut government agencies such as USAID. Canadians see boycotting Tesla as an easy way to retaliate against Trump's idea of making Canada America's 51st state.
Tesla vehicle registrations in the US dropped about 10% year-on-year in January according to Motor Intelligence, and were down 12% in California, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.
February data will give a clearer picture of how serious a problem Tesla has in its home market. It is possible that the virulence of the left-wing anti-Tesla movement in the US will result in an equal and opposite reaction by right-wing Musk and Trump supporters.
Meanwhile, BYD has begun offering autonomous driving features on vehicles priced below $10,000. Furthermore, all BYD models priced above $13,500 are now equipped with the company's God's Eye advanced driver assistance system, which was previously available only on models costing more than $30,000. Since prices for Tesla vehicles with similar capabilities start at about $32,000, some commentators see another EV price war in the offing.
Launched in 2023, BYD's God's Eye incorporates lidar, millimeter-wave radar, cameras and ultrasonic sensors. Its City Navigate on Autopilot is designed to handle traffic lights and complex intersections, avoid obstacles, change lanes and overtake slower vehicles. God's Eye can also navigate highways, including on and off ramps, and park automatically.
BYD buys autonomous driving integrated circuits from both Nvidia and China's Horizon Robotics. As reported by DigiTimes, God's Eye is divided into three price and technology tiers: entry-level, mid-range and high-end. Entry-level and mid-range use NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoCs (systems-on-chip), while the high-end uses Horizon's Journey 6 onboard computer system in what is reported to be its first commercial implementation.
Last week, Nvidia revealed it is the third largest shareholder of Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide, trailing only Robert Bosch and the Carlyle Group. WeRide, which went public on the Nasdaq last October, holds driverless vehicle permits in China, Singapore, the UAE and the US. WeRide also uses NVIDIA DRIVE Orin. Its vehicles are made by GAC, Geely, Nissan, Yutong and JMC-Ford, which is Ford's joint venture with Jiangling Motors.
WeRide's product line includes self-driving taxis, buses, delivery vans, street sweepers and passenger cars. At present, the company is conducting Level 2 (partial automation with human monitoring and control) to Level 4 (high automation with human override) autonomous driving tests and commercial operations in more than 30 cities in 9 countries around the world. Its robotaxis are on the streets of Guangzhou, Beijing, Nanjing, Ordos (Inner Mongolia), Suzhou and Abu Dhabi.
In the US, ride-hailing company Lyft plans to launch self-driving taxis in Dallas, Texas, using technology from Mobileye 'as soon as 2026' in a fleet of cars owned by Japanese trading company Marubeni. Waymo expects to launch its self-driving taxis on the Uber app in Austin, Texas, in the near future, perhaps in March.
Waymo is now providing more than 150,000 self-driving taxi rides per week over a total of more than one million miles. It offers robotaxi services in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles and is also preparing to start services in Atlanta, Miami and Tokyo.
Last October, Waymo and Hyundai Motor announced plans to combine Waymo's autonomous driving technology with Hyundai's electric IONIQ 5 SUV. The vehicles will be assembled at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in the US state of Georgia. Road tests are scheduled to begin by the end of 2025 in preparation for commercial roll-out in 2026.
Against this backdrop, Musk told investors on Tesla's Q4 2024 earnings call at the end of January that the company is on track to 'do an initial launch of unsupervised Full Self Driving in Austin in June,' adding on X that he sees a 'roll out to many cities in America by the end of this year.'
Despite the hype, Tesla is a follower, not a leader, in self-driving taxis. Considering the delayed Robotaxi unveiling last year, it is not clear how fast or slow a follower troubled Tesla might be.
Follow this writer on X: @ScottFo83517667