Few auto executives are as intently recognized with the businesses they handle as Elon Musk, the chief govt of Tesla, is. And doubtless none are extra prolific in broadcasting their political opinions on social media.
However as Mr. Musk’s public persona has grow to be more and more proper wing, Tesla seems to be paying a value in gross sales, particularly to liberal and left-leaning clients who’re more likely to purchase battery-powered vehicles than conservatives are, in keeping with analysts and lots of automotive house owners who responded to a questionnaire on The New York Occasions’s web site about whether or not his conduct affected their views of Tesla.
His picture as an erratic, impulsive supervisor seem to have rubbed off on the vehicles, elevating doubts in some folks’s minds about their high quality and serving to to elucidate 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 folks. 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 had been offended by what they perceived as antisemitism from Mr. Musk, which he denies. Some had been upset by the best way Mr. Musk has managed Twitter, now referred to as X, since he purchased the corporate in 2022. He fired 1000’s of staff 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 had been additionally cited as issues. A overwhelming majority of the readers who responded to the questionnaire had been vital of Mr. Musk.
“You’re principally driving round an enormous purple 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 isn’t attainable to know what value 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 autos worldwide, has misplaced market share in lots of international locations for quite a lot 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 firms are luring patrons by introducing new or up to date vehicles extra steadily.
In China, home carmakers like BYD have gained floor on Tesla by providing extra reasonably priced vehicles with options that enchantment to Chinese language customers, like karaoke. In Europe, BMW, Volkswagen and different native manufacturers are doing effectively by providing extra luxurious or cheaper vehicles than Tesla. And in america, Hyundai-Kia, Ford Motor and Normal Motors have elevated gross sales by providing a rising choice 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 companies vehicles straight, quite than by way of sellers.
“There’s a time after 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 companies. Mr. Musk’s veer to the best 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 title,” Mr. Yocum mentioned. “This automotive 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 most effective 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 most effective automotive or not the most effective automotive?”
Mr. Musk nonetheless has loads of passionate admirers. And a few mentioned the chief’s public statements wouldn’t affect their choice to purchase a Tesla. Many individuals gave him credit score for pushing the auto business to provide electrical autos, a robust instrument to fight local weather change.
“He has led an organization that has efficiently disrupted a corrupt, lazy automotive 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 client 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 stay in. He is also an oddball persona, 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, traders endorsed a $45 billion compensation plan for him by a large margin.
But automotive patrons whom The Occasions heard from and analysts mentioned Mr. Musk’s political exercise had clearly damage the corporate’s fame with left-leaning customers. And there may be little proof that Mr. Musk’s flip to the best 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 involved in battery-powered vehicles, up from 70 p.c who mentioned the identical final 12 months, in keeping with the Pew Analysis Middle.
“He is perhaps profitable some individuals who like his positions,” mentioned Greg Silverman, the worldwide director of name economics at Interbrand, a consulting agency that advises purchasers on advertising methods. However, he added, the percentages that Mr. Musk is attracting extra clients quite than pushing them away “are very low.”
Interbrand analysis signifies {that a} chief govt or different firm consultant who offends clients can cut back gross sales as a lot as 10 p.c, Mr. Silverman mentioned.
Some automotive 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 severely debating shopping for a Tesla,” mentioned Achidi Ndifang, who works in info expertise in Baltimore. “As a Black individual, I felt like it could be an insult for my mom to drive a Tesla.”
Derek Morf, a highschool math instructor in Verona, N.J., who owns a Tesla, 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 offended at Robert A. Iger, the chief govt of Disney.
Mr. Morf didn’t care that a lot in regards to the Disney app, which he hardly used. However, he mentioned, he discovered it unsettling “that the car I bought might have options modified immediately just because one man had that a lot management.”
Such issues might 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 customers.
Many Occasions readers identified that different automotive firms additionally had baggage. Volkswagen had an emissions scandal just a few 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 had been blamed for greater than 100 deaths.
Established automotive firms nonetheless promote gasoline vehicles that emit greenhouse gases and different pollution. Tesla sells solely electrical vehicles.
However most likely no different present auto govt has as loud a megaphone as Mr. Musk has, or is extra keen to make use of it.
“If folks suppose that the C.E.O.s of different firms are saints, they’re a bit naïve in my view,” mentioned Jan Leys, a Tesla proprietor in Zurich. “They simply don’t have as massive a mouth and/or platform as Elon Musk.”
