Elon Musk’s politics may be pushing some buyers away from Tesla

Few auto executives are as closely identified with the companies they manage as Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is. And probably none are more prolific in broadcasting their political views on social media.

But as Musk’s public persona has become increasingly right-wing, Tesla appears to be paying a price in sales, especially to liberal and left-leaning customers who are much more likely to buy battery-powered cars than conservatives are, according to analysts and many car owners who responded to a questionnaire on The New York Times’ website about whether his behavior affected their views of Tesla.

His image as an erratic, impulsive manager appears to have rubbed off on the cars, raising doubts in some people’s minds about their quality and helping to explain why Tesla sales have been falling. On Tuesday, the company reported that its global sales in the second quarter fell 4.8% from the same period a year earlier, after an 8.5% drop in the first three months of the year.

Tesla and a representative for the company’s board did not respond to requests for comment.

Some of the more than 7,500 people who responded to the Times’ questionnaire said they were offended by what they perceived as antisemitism from Musk, which he denies. Some were upset by the way Musk has managed Twitter, now called X, since he bought the company in 2022. He fired thousands of employees and removed guardrails on content shared on the social media platform. His increasingly friendly relations with former President Donald Trump and other conservative personalities were also cited as concerns. A vast majority of the readers who responded to the questionnaire were critical of Musk.

“You’re basically driving around a giant red MAGA hat,” said Aaron Shepherd, a product designer at Microsoft in Seattle who said he was planning to buy an electric Volkswagen ID.4 instead of a Tesla.

It is not possible to know what price Tesla has paid for Musk’s political statements and activities. What is clear is that Tesla, once the dominant seller of electric vehicles worldwide, has lost market share in many countries for a variety of reasons. Chief among them is the company’s reliance on the Model Y sport utility vehicle and the Model 3 sedan, which haven’t been substantially updated in years, for almost all of its sales. Other companies are luring buyers by introducing new or updated cars more frequently.

In China, domestic carmakers like BYD have gained ground on Tesla by offering more affordable cars with technology features that appeal to Chinese consumers, like rotating screens. In Europe, BMW, Volkswagen and other local brands are doing well by offering more luxurious or cheaper cars than Tesla. And in the United States, Hyundai-Kia, Ford Motor and General Motors have increased sales by offering a growing selection of models.

Times readers who responded to the online questionnaire said they had been turned off by Musk’s statements and by their experience with Tesla’s cars and service operations; the company sells and services cars directly, rather than through dealers.

“There’s a time when I’d have given Musk an organ if he needed one,” said Tim Yocum, an engineering director at a software company. But Yocum, who lives in Chicago, said that he had experienced problems with his Tesla Model S and that he had been unsatisfied with the company’s repair and maintenance services. Musk’s veer to the right has also upset him.

“Tesla is the only manufacturer in contemporary times that has unapologetically let its CEO take a tiki torch to its good name,” Yocum said. “This car will be the last Tesla I own.”

Such comments help illuminate surveys that say Tesla’s reputation has suffered recently. The company slipped to 63rd place in the 2024 Axios Harris Poll 100, which asked respondents about their views on corporate brands. In 2021, the company was in eighth place.

Musk has maintained that his public statements and persona don’t affect Tesla’s sales. “We make the best cars,” he said at the Times’ DealBook Summit in November.