Summary
A survey of 100,000 Germans found that 94% refuse to buy a Tesla, signaling a major crisis for the company.
Tesla’s German sales dropped 70% in early 2025 after a 41% decline in 2024, despite overall EV sales rising.
Analysts attribute the slump to CEO Elon Musk’s far-right political endorsements, including promoting the AfD party and making Nazi-related gestures. Musk is under European investigation for political meddling.
With Tesla’s reputation plummeting, industry experts predict further losses in Germany’s competitive EV market.
It’s also weird because if they get rid of Elon then people would start looking at the actual fundamentals of Tesla which would lead to a much much lower stock price. In December, Tesla was valued at roughly the same as the rest of the worlds auto manufacturers combined, despite selling only 3% of the worlds cars in 2023.
It’s an aspirational brand that is the result of a carefully curated public image. Tesla are notable for their litigation propensity, dubious technical claims and avoidance of benchmarking, e.g., JD Power.