Latest news with #Anti-Elon
San Francisco Chronicle
17-05-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
So many buyers are shunning Tesla that it's hurting California's EV goals
New Tesla sales in California dropped 21% in the first quarter of this year, according to data from the California Energy Commission, while sales of other types of electric vehicles went up by 14%. Together, those shifts meant that EV sales overall decreased very slightly — 3% — year-over-year. The trend jeopardizes California's goal to have zero-emission vehicles constitute 35% of new car sales by 2026. It's also a sign of tumult for Tesla. Although the company's cars accounted for just under 40% of all new zero-emission vehicle sales in the first quarter of 2025, Tesla's share of the market decreased substantially since the first quarter of 2024, when its products made up nearly half of new sales. That's unusual for a brand that has a five to ten year head start over its competitors, said Bill Pearce, a marketing expert at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Market leaders tend to see slower growth over time, Pearce said, as more competitors come in. But generally, sales still go up. Tesla's unraveling offers a stunning object lesson — either on how to destroy a brand, or how to completely change its meaning. For years, people bought Teslas not only for their clean fuel and reliability but because they signified certain values, Pearce said: care for the environment and humanity; faith in technology; a desire for progress. Such brand recognition was especially powerful in the Bay Area's liberal cities and suburbs where Teslas packed the roads. Now, many consumers associate the cars with the company's polarizing chief executive, Elon Musk, a top advisor to President Donald Trump. Musk headed efforts to eviscerate federal agencies while also promoting right wing priorities, including a recent push for the resettlement of white South Africans. As a result, choosing whether or not to buy a Tesla has itself become a political statement — one that's borne out in the data. Sales of the car seem to be dropping most sharply in blue regions, including in the Bay Area. Alameda, Sonoma, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties all saw drops of more than 25%. In each of those counties, overall zero-emissions vehicle sales fell by 3-4%. In Yolo County, home to left-leaning Davis, a 37% decrease in Tesla sales drove a 25% drop in EV sales overall, the largest in the state. Other California counties saw increases in Tesla sales — Stanislaus and Kern counties saw 34% and 13% increases respectively. Trump won both counties in the 2024 election. Consumers 'are having a hard time separating (Musk), the CEO and Tesla evangelist, from the brand,' Pearce said. Some have gone so far as to trade in their Teslas at a financial loss. Others are plastering their cars with 'Anti-Elon' bumper stickers to distance themselves from Musk. In a press release, the California Energy Commission wrote that 'consumers are buoyed by more choices' in the EV market, with 147 models available this year, compared to 105 models available at this time last year. Electric vehicles made up almost a quarter of new cars sold in California in the first three months of the year. Several of the next top selling electric vehicle brands saw increases compared to the first quarter of 2024. The second top seller was BMW, which saw a 26% increase from the first quarter of 2024 to 2025. Mercedes-Benz, the third highest, saw a 7% increase, and Ford saw a 24% increase. Rounding out the top five, Hyundai saw a 6% increase. 'Mercedes and BMW could leap frog Tesla,' he predicted. 'It's going to be about technology. BMW is about driving. Mercedes is about luxury and comfort. They can win on those aspects.' Moreover, he added, any brand of EV can convey the owner's concern for the environment. To Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association, the sputtering demand for Teslas underscores a larger problem for the EV market: that consumer interest can't keep pace with California's ambitious environmental goals. His group is pressing regulators to pause the state's mandate that zero-emission vehicles comprise 35% of all new car sales in 2026. 'Overall EV market share needs to be growing substantially in order to meet the mandate that the Air Resources Board has set,' Maas said. 'And it's not.' Yet California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph said in the press release that the board was 'undeterred' by the slowdown in the EV market this quarter, calling it a 'normal, anticipated part of the technology adoption cycle.' She noted that the market remained strong despite Tesla's drop, and that 'many new offerings are experiencing encouraging consumer uptake.'
The Independent
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Why Tesla's fall forced Musk to step back from DOGE
At the start of the year, Tesla 's share price was at an all-time high. Elon Musk, owner of the electric vehicle giant, was coasting on the win of his ally Donald Trump, and investors were hedging their bets that soon-to-be-President Trump would enact policies in favour of Tesla and the billionaire's other companies. But with an astronomical fall in share price, tanking sales and shrinking profits, the reality for Tesla has been far different – and much of it is tied to Musk's public-facing role in the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Tesla stock once made up the majority of Musk's wealth, but now it is reporting huge drops in profit. The decision to step away from DOGE may show that Musk is not immune to Tesla's downfall. Within one month of Musk's appointment to DOGE, Tesla shares were down 16.5 per cent. Within two, Tesla's share price was down 45 per cent from when Trump came into office. And Musk himself has lost an estimated $149 billion in wealth since taking the helm at DOGE; at $301 billion compared to $449 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. Profits slashed Tesla's share price problems have been far from cosmetic. The business is facing significant headwinds, not least because of the intertwined reputation with its notorious leader. In January and February, Tesla sales in Europe saw sudden dips, of 45 per cent and 39 per cent respectively year-on-year - despite steady growth in the European electric vehicle (EV) market. The numbers behind this week's latest earnings reports are, as expected, not pretty. Quarterly profits of $409m contrasted starkly with last year's $1.4bn figure for the same three months - and the 71 per cent drop represents the company's lowest quarterly profits since 2020. Actual vehicle sales reported this month were down 13 per cent to a little over a third of a million across the January to March quarter, with notable declines in China and parts of the US, while revenue of $19.3bn fell short of forecasts by more than $2bn and operating margins fell to 2.1 per cent. 'Earnings margin of 2.1 per cent is the lowest since Tesla approached break-even in 2019,' said Mamta Valechha, consumer discretionary analyst at Quilter Cheviot. 'Free cash flow dipped to $660 million, but did not enter negative territory as capital expenditures were nearly halved compared to the prior year due to reduced investments. 'Tesla has [also] effectively removed its growth guidance for this year, no longer promising a return to growth in 2025.' Additional factors affecting sales include competition from China 's BYD (Build Your Dreams), which undercuts Tesla on price, while frequent recalls of Tesla vehicles may also be doing little to boost confidence in the brand. But it is impossible to ignore a major factor impacting its brand: Musk's growing unpopularity. Anti-Elon movement Musk has made no secret of his increasingly controversial political viewpoints. From accusations of a nazi salute at the inauguration, to criticising Volodmyr Zelensky as 'evil' over the war in Ukraine, it is easy to see how his actions have ruffled feathers. As a result, a string of attacks have targeted Teslas in Europe and the US over the past few months, with clear anti-Musk messages. Tesla owners have faced threats to sell their cars over 'Nazi Extremism' in California, while even in the UK, campaign groups have applied pressure against Tesla cars and charging points. Tesla shareholders are pushing back against Musk's alignment with Trump; his decision to step partly away from DOGE indicates Musk is likely feeling the blowback himself. Tesla exposed to tariffs Investors may have hoped that Musk's role in the administration would see carveouts for Tesla in Trump's trade war. But in fact, the electric vehicle brand is far from immune. Tesla manufactures its electric vehicles in the US, which makes it less exposed to 25 per cent automotive tariffs than foreign brands. But the tariffs are not just on finished cars; there is also a 25 per cent levy on all imported automotive parts, and Tesla relies on many parts imported from China, in addition to Mexico and Canada: the company is dependent on imported lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries to fuel its EVs, in particular using Chinese manufacturer CATL to supply its factories. And China's new restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets have also impacted other projects from Tesla such as its Optimus humanoid robots. With Tesla dependent on batteries and rare earth products from China, the trade war will inevitably hit its supply chain. Shares see boost despite performance Following Tesla's plummeting profits, it might have been expected that the share price could drop further - but the opposite has happened. On Tuesday, the share price had risen 4.6 per cent; following the announcement of Mr Musk's intentions to resume greater oversight of corporate rather than Capitol Hill activities, that trajectory continued. Tesla shares are up more than seven per cent in pre-trading, set to open well above $250 per share - still a far cry from December's peak. Lowered expectations can explain part of it, as well as a broader desire from investors to see a bull run resume - from lower share price starting points. 'Tesla's first-quarter delivery and production numbers were as ugly as its Cybertruck design. That meant expectations were rock-bottom in the run-up to its financial results and it's why the shares didn't tank upon release of the Q1 earnings,' noted Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell. 'Certain individuals are spotting an opportunity and might take the view that Tesla's significant share price decline has gone too far - they're buying on the dip, hoping for a bounce-back and might view the recent sell-off as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pick up shares in a previous stock market darling on the cheap. After all, the fundamentals still give bulls something to get excited about.' Not everyone is quite as excited about those humanoid robots, self-driving taxis and energy storage products though. 'While Tesla is making progress on these initiatives, we believe the market and management commentary are overly optimistic about the timing. The narrative around Tesla's stock and valuation remains heavily dependent on these future prospects,' Valechha cautioned. It should also be noted, the uptick isn't totally down to Tesla, Musk or anything to do with electrification - Trump's China tariff climbdown has sent the S&P 500 two per cent higher in pre-trading, with the likes of Amazon and Nvidia up four per cent each. Market volatility comes as standard in this second Trump term, and for Tesla which inadvertently became a crossover company to the political arena, that continues to go double.
Sky News
10-03-2025
- Automotive
- Sky News
Tesla's share price losing streak - Is Musk's Trump role distracting him from his day job of running EV maker?
Amid the market volatility sparked by Donald Trump's on-off tariff plans, during which the benchmark S&P 500 index fell by 3.1% last week and the Nasdaq entered 'correction' territory, no stock has been more badly hit than Tesla. Shares of Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker have fallen for seven straight weeks, the longest losing streak since the company floated on the stock market 15 years ago, wiping out more or less all of the gains it enjoyed after Mr Trump was elected president in November last year. Money blog latest Since Tesla shares peaked at $479.86 each on 17 December, they have fallen by 45%, wiping more than $800bn from the company's stock market value. To put it in context, that sum is roughly equivalent to Poland's annual economic output. And there may be worse to come. Wall Street analysts have been rushing to downgrade Tesla stock. A quarter of the 40 brokerages covering the stock currently rate it a "strong sell" with one of them - Guggenheim Securities - suggesting the shares could fall another 30% from here. Reasons for share price drop There are a number of reasons behind the fall. Those who deplore Mr Musk's political views and his close proximity to the Trump administration will doubtless cite this as the key factor. It has certainly played a part. Mr Musk's recent antics, such as wielding a chainsaw on stage at a recent political conference and making a gesture on stage that some interpreted as a Nazi salute, have not endeared him or his companies to a swathe of the public both in the US and beyond. There have been protests and outbreaks of vandalism at Tesla dealerships and EV charging points across the US while, in both Europe and China, Tesla orders in January were down 45% year on year. Admittedly, a lot of the people staging protests at Tesla properties are unlikely to have been would-be buyers of the company's products, but the bigger problem is that Mr Musk now appears to be alienating customers who were previously loyal to the brand - as shown by the popularity, in the US, of Tesla bumper stickers with messages such as "I bought this before Elon went crazy" and "Anti-Elon Tesla Club". 0:42 Is Musk distracted? Conversely, some investors who wholly approve of the work Mr Musk is doing for the Trump administration may also have concerns, notably that it is proving too much of a distraction from the day job of running Tesla. Even before Mr Musk took the wheel at the US Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE), there were already fears that he was being too distracted by his private companies, including the social media platform X, the aerospace and defence contractor SpaceX and his artificial intelligence business xAI. X, on which lies peddled by the Kremlin about Ukraine are regularly amplified, may also be adding to the damage being done to the Tesla brand. But Mr Musk's association with the Trump administration is only part of the reason for the recent declines. Tesla shares could have been over-priced Another key factor is that shares of Tesla were arguably over-priced to begin with. In the two weeks following the US presidential election, Tesla shares shot up by 32%, adding $250bn to its stock market value. To put that into context, that gain was equal to the entire stock market value of Toyota, the world's next biggest carmaker after Tesla. At the time its shares peaked, Tesla shares were trading at 112 times expected earnings, compared with the 25 times or so that the S&P 500 was trading at and higher even than the company's average over the last five years of 93. Again, to put things in context, Ford shares are valued at just eight times prospective earnings. That exotic rating reflected the superlative growth prospects previously accorded to Tesla, in particular Mr Musk's pledges to launch a new cut-price electric vehicle and a fully autonomous ride-hailing service. Competition from China But investors are now reappraising those growth prospects as Tesla loses share of the electric vehicle market to rivals, such as China's BYD, which is also seen as outpacing the company on self-driving vehicle technology. News on Tesla's planned new low-cost model remains elusive and, until it is launched, critics believe it has little hope of building share in burgeoning markets such as India. Mr Musk always wanted Tesla to be seen as an AI and robotics company rather than an electric vehicle maker and that was part of the bull case for the stock. Yet there are now fears that the company is investing too much in such projects and on its much-criticised Cybertrucks. Another concern is that Tesla's core operations may be misfiring. Results published at the end of January revealed that operating profits for the final three months of 2024 were down 23% on the same period a year earlier - which Tesla blamed on lower average selling prices on each of its Model 3, Model Y, Model X and Model S lines. For the full year, deliveries of new vehicles were down on 2023, the first year-on-year fall the company has suffered. And the operating margin, partly reflecting the sums Tesla is investing, were also lower. It all adds up to an unpleasant cocktail for investors.
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Automotive
- The Guardian
‘I felt nothing but disgust': Tesla owners vent their anger at Elon Musk
When Mike Schwede first sat in a Tesla Roadster 15 years ago, he felt like it was a glimpse into the future. By 2016, he was the proud owner of a Tesla, revelling in the thumbs up he would get from other drivers as he whizzed along Europe's highways in the electric vehicle. But of late the sheen of owning a Tesla has begun to wear off. For years the brand has been synonymous with Elon Musk and his stance against the climate crisis. Recently, Schwede watched aghast as the Tesla CEO poured hundreds of millions into backing Donald Trump as he made promises to ramp up domestic oil and gas production. 'He was getting more and more weird,' said Schwede, an entrepreneur and digital strategist based in Switzerland. The final straw came when Musk made back-to-back fascist-style salutes during Trump's inauguration in January. 'I felt nothing but utter disgust,' said Schwede. 'And I no longer enjoyed sitting in my Tesla.' On Tuesday, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association showed sales of new Tesla cars almost halved in Europe last month. The figures left analysts scrambling to assess how big a factor customers turning their backs on the brand because of Musk's foray into far-right politics may be. The Texas-based carmaker sold 9,945 vehicles in Europe in January, down 45% from last year's 18,161, the association said. Now, there are signs existing Tesla owners who have become disgruntled with Musk's views are making their anger heard. Schwede contemplated selling his car, but after racking up more than 60,000 miles on it, there was little value left in it. So he came up with his own means of reclaiming his Tesla and the liberal ethos that had underpinned his purchase; he began donating 10 cents for every kilometre driven to a range of charities, countering Musk's support of the far right with direct support to those who help LGBTQ+ youth or fight hate and extremism. 'It was something Elon wouldn't like,' he said. 'That's my personal revenge.' It's a hint of how some Tesla owners in Europe are fighting back, putting up their own – albeit small-scale – resistance as Musk wades into global politics, using his wealth to help secure Trump's return to the White House and his sprawling influence to back far-right and anti-establishment parties across Europe. For Germany's Patrik Schneider, the turning point came as he was heckled by a stranger at a petrol station, who pointed to his Tesla and called him a Trump supporter. Saddled with a long-term lease on the vehicle, he scrambled to find a way to address his relationship with a brand that – in his mind – had soured. 'Of course, as a Tesla driver you were always the fool: the Green party voter, the world saviour, the CO2 guy,' Schneider told Germany's media. 'But now you're in a category that's no longer funny.' What he came up with was a line of 'Anti-Elon stickers' for Tesla cars. In an echo of an American initiative, he began selling the stickers online six months ago, taking orders for messages that range from 'I bought this before Elon went crazy' to 'Elon sucks.' As Musk waded more deeply into German politics, hosting the far-right AfD's co-leader, Alice Weidel, in an interview on X and turning up at an AfD rally where he disparaged multiculturalism and lambasted the country's focus on 'past guilt', demand for the stickers soared. Demand has now climbed to as much as 2,000 stickers a day, with orders pouring in from across the German-speaking world but as far as Australia and South Korea. All of it was done without any advertising, said Schneider, adding wryly: 'Elon Musk does that for us.' Others have called for the actions to go further. In Poland – where the Nazi German ioccupation led to the deaths of six million Poles, including three million Jews – the country's tourism minister called on citizens to boycott Tesla after Musk's surprise appearance at the AfD rally. 'All I can say is that probably no normal Pole should buy a Tesla any more,' Sławomir Nitras recently told Polish broadcaster Tok Fm. 'A serious and strong response is necessary, including a consumer boycott.' In August, German drugstore chain Rossmann said it would no longer buy Tesla cars for its corporate fleet, citing Musk's support for Trump, while German energy company LichtBlick said on social media that it would be 'pulling the plug' on the Tesla vehicles in its fleet, citing Musk's backing of 'a rightwing populist and extremist party'. The message was echoed recently by UK-based campaign group Led by Donkeys after they said they had projected images of Musk's salute on to the facade of the Tesla gigafactory near Berlin. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion 'The world's richest man, Elon Musk, is promoting the far right in Europe,' the campaign group wrote on social media after their collaboration with Germany's Centre for Political Beauty. 'Don't buy a Tesla.' In London, activists put up a parody 'Tesla – The Swasticar' bus stop adverts with the tagline 'goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds', referencing the start of the second world war, and stickers with similar wording have been slapped on Tesla cars. In Tottenham, north London, a member of the activist group – the People v Elon campaign – took a cardboard cutout of Musk's salute into a Tesla dealership. In Sweden, EV maker Polestar has sought to capitalise on the discontent. 'We get a lot of people writing that they don't like all this,' the company's CEO, Michael Lohscheller, recently told Bloomberg as he explained that he had directed sales staff to target disgruntled Tesla owners. After a Dutch poll suggested 31% of respondents who owned Teslas were considering selling them or had already done so, it remains to be seen what the impact will be on the company. Matthias Schmidt, a Germany-based automotive analyst, said '2025 will be one of the biggest tests for Tesla.' 'With all respect, consumers tend to be like goldfish; they tend to forget things very quickly,' said Schmidt. 'But Germany is potentially slightly different because of its history … The shift to him backing the AfD was potentially far more damaging in Germany than his move to back Trump.' Last year, Tesla saw sales in Germany plunge 41% – outpacing the overall 27% decline in EVs across the country – as rivals rolled out their own electric vehicles and governments rolled back subsidies. Figures for early 2025 show that Tesla sales have fallen sharply across several European markets. Data published by New AutoMotive sales fell in several European markets in January – down by 63% on a year earlier in France and 59% in Germany. In the UK, Sweden and Norway registrations fell by 12%, 44% and 38%, respectively. While buyers could be reacting to Musk's comments, other factors may also be at play as consumers await Tesla's release pf the updated Y model, said Schmidt. When contacted by the Guardian, Tesla did not reply to a request for comment. But late last month, Musk appeared to be upbeat during a call with investors, hinting that 2025 may be a tough year but that 2026 would be 'epic' for the company. 'Musk is kind of like a character that – like a cat – has nine lives,' said Schmidt. 'And he's almost used up those nine lives. And it will be interesting to see what happens now.'
