Few auto executives are as intently recognized with the businesses they handle as Elon Musk, the chief government of Tesla, is. And doubtless none are extra prolific in broadcasting their political beliefs on social media.
However as Mr. Musk’s public persona has change into more and more proper wing, Tesla seems to be paying a worth in gross sales, particularly to liberal and left-leaning prospects who’re more likely to purchase battery-powered vehicles than conservatives are, in response to analysts and lots of automobile house owners who responded to a questionnaire on The New York Occasions’s web site about whether or not his habits affected their views of Tesla.
His picture as an erratic, impulsive supervisor seem to have rubbed off on the vehicles, elevating doubts in some individuals’s minds about their high quality and serving to to clarify why Tesla gross sales have been falling. On Tuesday, the corporate reported that its international gross sales within the second quarter fell 4.8 p.c from the identical interval a 12 months earlier, after an 8.5 p.c drop within the first three months of the 12 months.
“Musk is a real lightning rod,” mentioned Ben Rose, the president of Battle Highway Analysis, which has a usually optimistic view on Tesla’s inventory. “There are individuals who swear by him and individuals who swear at him. No query, a few of his feedback are an actual turnoff for some individuals. For a subset, sufficient to purchase one other model.”
Tesla and a consultant for the corporate’s board didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Among the greater than 7,500 individuals who responded to The Occasions’s questionnaire mentioned they have been offended by what they perceived as antisemitism from Mr. Musk, which he denies. Some have been upset by the best way Mr. Musk has managed Twitter, now known as X, since he purchased the corporate in 2022. He fired hundreds of workers and eliminated guardrails on content material shared on the social media platform. His more and more pleasant relations with former President Donald J. Trump and different conservative personalities have been additionally cited as issues. A overwhelming majority of the readers who responded to the questionnaire have been important of Mr. Musk.
“You’re principally driving round an enormous crimson MAGA hat,” mentioned Aaron Shepherd, a product designer at Microsoft in Seattle who mentioned he was planning to purchase an electrical Volkswagen ID.4 as an alternative of a Tesla.
It’s not doable to know what worth Tesla has paid for Mr. Musk’s political statements and actions. What is obvious is that Tesla, as soon as the dominant vendor of electrical automobiles worldwide, has misplaced market share in lots of nations for a wide range of causes. Chief amongst them is the corporate’s reliance on the Mannequin Y sport utility car and the Mannequin 3 sedan, which haven’t been considerably up to date in years, for nearly all of its gross sales. Different corporations are luring consumers by introducing new or up to date vehicles extra continuously.
In China, home carmakers like BYD have gained floor on Tesla by providing extra inexpensive vehicles with expertise options that attraction to Chinese language shoppers, like rotating screens. In Europe, BMW, Volkswagen and different native manufacturers are doing nicely by providing extra luxurious or cheaper vehicles than Tesla. And in the US, Hyundai-Kia, Ford Motor and Normal Motors have elevated gross sales by providing a rising collection of fashions.
Occasions readers who responded to the net questionnaire mentioned they’d been turned off by Mr. Musk’s statements and by their expertise with Tesla’s vehicles and repair operations — the corporate sells and providers vehicles instantly, reasonably than via sellers.
“There’s a time once I’d have given Musk an organ if he wanted one,” mentioned Tim Yocum, an engineering director at a software program firm. However Mr. Yocum, who lives in Chicago, mentioned that he had skilled issues along with his Tesla Mannequin S and that he had been unhappy with the corporate’s restore and upkeep providers. Mr. Musk’s veer to the proper has additionally upset him.
“Tesla is the one producer in modern occasions that has unapologetically let its C.E.O. take a tiki torch to its good identify,” Mr. Yocum mentioned. “This automobile would be the final Tesla I personal.”
Such feedback assist illuminate surveys that say Tesla’s fame has suffered not too long ago. The corporate slipped to 63rd place within the 2024 Axios Harris Ballot 100, which requested respondents about their views on company manufacturers. In 2021, the corporate was in eighth place.
Mr. Musk has maintained that his public statements and persona don’t have an effect on Tesla’s gross sales. “We make the very best vehicles,” he mentioned at The Occasions’s DealBook Summit in November. “Whether or not you hate me, like me or are detached, would you like the very best automobile or not the very best automobile?”
Mr. Musk nonetheless has loads of passionate admirers. And a few mentioned the chief’s public statements wouldn’t affect their resolution to purchase a Tesla. Many individuals gave him credit score for pushing the auto business to provide electrical automobiles, a strong software to fight local weather change.
“He has led an organization that has efficiently disrupted a corrupt, lazy automobile business,” mentioned Julian Mehnle, a software program engineer who lives in San Francisco. Whereas no fan of Mr. Musk, Mr. Mehnle mentioned, “I’m grownup sufficient to separate these issues from my alternative of shopper merchandise.”
Robert Dean, an architect who lives in Redding, Conn., echoed these sentiments: “Musk is a huge, disruptive expertise with a transformative and optimistic impact on the world we dwell in. He is also an oddball character, however I’m not marrying him; I’m shopping for vehicles from an organization he brilliantly leads.”
Most of Tesla’s shareholders stay largely supportive of Mr. Musk. Final month, buyers endorsed a $45 billion compensation plan for him by a large margin.
But automobile consumers whom The Occasions heard from and analysts mentioned Mr. Musk’s political exercise had clearly damage the corporate’s fame with left-leaning shoppers. And there’s little proof that Mr. Musk’s flip to the proper has attracted extra conservatives to purchase Teslas. Actually, 77 p.c of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters mentioned this 12 months that they weren’t fascinated by battery-powered vehicles, up from 70 p.c who mentioned the identical final 12 months, in response to the Pew Analysis Heart.
“He may be profitable some individuals who like his positions,” mentioned Greg Silverman, the worldwide director of brand name economics at Interbrand, a consulting agency that advises purchasers on advertising methods. However, he added, the percentages that Mr. Musk is attracting extra prospects reasonably than pushing them away “are very low.”
Interbrand analysis signifies {that a} chief government or different firm consultant who offends prospects can scale back gross sales as a lot as 10 p.c, Mr. Silverman mentioned.
Some automobile house owners’ issues went past Mr. Musk’s political statements. They cited accusations of racial discrimination at Tesla factories, or the notion that he has allowed racist content material to flourish on X. Tesla has denied that it tolerates discrimination at its factories.
“My mom was significantly debating shopping for a Tesla,” mentioned Achidi Ndifang, who works in data expertise in Baltimore. “As a Black individual, I felt like it will be an insult for my mom to drive a Tesla.”
Derek Morf, a highschool math instructor in Verona, N.J., reported feeling alarmed when Tesla eliminated the Disney Plus app from some dashboard screens late final 12 months, apparently as a result of Mr. Musk was indignant at Robert A. Iger, the chief government of Disney.
Mr. Morf didn’t care that a lot in regards to the Disney app. However, he mentioned, he discovered it unsettling “that the car I bought might have options modified straight away just because one man had that a lot management.”
Such issues could possibly be a legal responsibility for Tesla because it pours assets into autonomous driving expertise. Mr. Musk has promised to unveil a self-driving taxi on Aug. 8. The expertise can not succeed with out belief from shoppers.
Many Occasions readers identified that different automobile corporations additionally had baggage. Volkswagen had an emissions scandal a couple of years in the past. Henry Ford, the founding father of Ford Motor, held and unfold antisemitic views. A decade in the past, G.M. offered vehicles with defective ignition switches that have been blamed for greater than 100 deaths.
Established automobile corporations nonetheless promote gasoline vehicles that emit greenhouse gases and different pollution. Tesla sells solely electrical vehicles.
However most likely no different present auto government has as loud a megaphone as Mr. Musk has, or is extra keen to make use of it.
“If individuals suppose that the C.E.O.s of different corporations are saints, they’re a bit naïve for my part,” mentioned Jan Leys, a Tesla proprietor in Zurich. “They simply don’t have as massive a mouth and/or platform as Elon Musk.”
