“Major Brand Morries”: How toxic is Elon Musk for Tesla? | Tesla

GLobally renowned brands would usually not be associated with the right -wing extremist opposition in Germany. But Tesla, one of the largest corporate names in the world, has no conventional managing director.

After Elon Musk supported the alternative for Germany (AfD) – which the “only hope” party described – the voters consider an alternative to Tesla. The data published on Thursday showed that the registrations of the company’s electric cars in Germany in the past month dropped by 76% to 1,429. Overall, the registrations of the electric vehicle rose by 31%.

The greatest shareholder of Tesla, who has expressed the support of the right -wing managers all over the world, is now a de facto US cabinet member under Donald Trump’s administration.

Tesla’s rating is inextricably linked to Musk’s policy. After spending $ 288 million for Trump’s election win in 2024, Tesla $ 1TN was evaluated. Musk’s political engagement – unprecedented for the head of a company of this size – could also have a negative impact.

On Friday, a group of extinction -rebellion activists occupied a Tesla shop in the center of Milan. Activists chained themselves to the tires of the cars, and others stuck to the windows that “pay millionaires” and “ecology for everyone, without eco -fascism” together with the slogans.

Analysts openly ask whether musk is permanently damaged by a brand of a brand with electric cars and in the broader sense of liberal efforts to combat climate change.

Tesla was addressed for a comment.

In 2024, Tesla was the world’s largest manufacturer of batteries.

The manufacturer said in January that global sales in 2025 would grow, and the analysts of Wall Street expect Tesla to sell more than 2 million cars this year. But even these forecasts would hardly represent a blazing return to the form. Musk expected to expect annual sales of 20 to 30% in October, which implied up to 2.3 million cars sold.

“Customer loyalty will be decisive in 2025, since customers may be looking for an” alternative for Tesla “, said Matthias Schmidt, an electric car analyst based in Berlin.

Other analysts are more optimistic. Dan Ives von Wedbush Securities, a US financial company, is a long -time Tesla supporter. IVES believes that the company’s share price could increase from its current level of around 280 US dollars to $ 550. However, he recognized the negative perception, which was created by Musk’s partnership with Trump and his work on the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)-a topic that he described as the “elephant in the room” for the brand.

He called them “great brand disorders for Tesla” and added an indication that the direct effects on sales should be relatively low. “We estimate that less than 5% of the Tesla sales are endangered worldwide from these problems, although the global draconian narrative for Muschus is a story.”

IVES said that Tesla was about to make a new, cheaper vehicle that cost less than 35,000 US dollars – and would “own” the autonomous vehicle market, which would help to bring Tesla to an evaluation of more than $ 2.

Nevertheless, there are clear signs in the USA that Tesla’s largest market is that potential buyers fluctuate according to Strategic Vision, a market research company. The new vehicle experience study is pursuing the purchase preferences of up to 250,000 car buyers in the USA and shows a severe decline in Tesla since Musk bought 2022 Twitter (now X).

Shortly before the multibillionaire bought the social media platform, 22% of the new vehicle buyers “definitely” had “definitely” considered buying a Tesla. It was almost 8%by the end of 2024. The proportion that would not consider buying a Tesla has risen from 39% to 63% in the same period.

According to the strategic vision, about half of non-tela EV buyers identify as democratic or liberal, compared to around 20%that identify as Republican or conservative. Among the Tesla owners, the Democrat owner group has dropped from 40% to 29% during the Biden administration, whereby the Republican group has been an average of 30% since 2021.

“Democrats, the majority of EV owners, are now actively rejecting Tesla and choosing other options,” said Alexander Edwards, President of Strategic Vision.

In the meantime, global protests intensify against Musk and Tesla. In America there were demonstrations outside of dozens of Tesla showrooms, while in Great Britain a guerrilla-poster campaign “0 to 1939 in 3 seconds”-in an inauguration rally in the fascist style of the Musks. In Germany, he was recently caricatured as a “Napo-Elon” on a carnival swimmer.

Ross Gerber, managing director of the US investment management company Gerber Kawasaki, who has shares in Tesla, said Musk gave people an outlet to express their contempt for his policy.

He said: “He left himself open for a direct way to attack him if they don’t like his policy. It is ironic because the vehicles were made for liberals that take care of the environment and have become a symbol of the conservative movement. “

Tesla has a value of approximately $ 847 billion – still more than the next 10 car manufacturers. Few investment banks have taken on an effect of musk into their work in order to precisely evaluate Tesla. Nevertheless, there are further reports on falling sales. In Australia, sales in February decreased by about 72% compared to the same month in 2024, according to the data published this week.

Several analysts have expressed concerns that the current assessment is far too high. JP Morgan is one of the most pessimistic of the investment banks and indicates that Tesla’s share price could decrease up to $ 135 – or an evaluation of $ 400 billion. Musk is the biggest shareholder in Tesla, an essential contribution to his status as the richest person in the world.

“The Tesla shares continued to divorced the basics,” JP Morgan wrote in January and pointed out that the winning expectations of 2025 have decreased by 70% since 2022. The share price has more than doubled since then – something that would normally not happen if investors expect lower profits.

Analysts from UBS, a Swiss investment bank, agree that Tesla’s assessment “continues to confuse us” with great risks in his efforts to earn money with self -driving cars or humanoid robots.

While sales in several markets declined sharply in January, several analysts warned against relying on figures for a single month. Schmidt said: “Some consumers probably hold back decisions and are waiting for the updated model Y that arrives this month. The big question, however, is that these only the die-hard Tesla enthusiasts stand in line while other potential consumers jump the ship? “

There were also positive signs elsewhere. The turnover of Great Britain Tesla fell back in January, but was withdrawn by a fifth in February to increase sales compared to the previous year for 2025. In the United States, there was also signs of recovery after a fall in January, with preliminary data for February a reinforcement turnover from around 42,000 cars to 14% compared to the previous year.

However, the British sales figures also underline another problem for investors: the management of Tesla on rivals could narrow if a flood arrives. The electrical market share of Tesla in the first two months of 2025 was 11%, according to New Automotive, a research group, of 14% in 2024.

Ben Nelmes, Chief Executive of New Automotive, said: “The effects of Elon Musk’s political views on Tesla’s sales may have been overvalued, but Tesla is gradually losing his position as a dominant EV seller in Great Britain because other carmakers are launching.”

In China, Tesla is under great pressure from a number of cheaper competitors, especially by BYD. On the second largest market of Tesla, the turnover of his electric vehicles produced by China in February compared to the previous year by 49%, to the lowest level since August 2022.

Edward Nestermeyer, author of Ludicrous – a book about Tesla from 2019, which focuses on Musk’s habit of making courageous claims about the business that does not stack, argues that the prospect of new business such as robotaxis and robot is far away. “The unique moment when we are now is that the business has reached its peak,” he said.

The concern for Tesla investors is whether Muschus has transformed this highlight into a cliff edge.

Additional reporting Lorenzo Tondo