Public companies generally separate themselves from problematic executives and people who break the law or misbehave publicly, but that’s not the case with Tesla. CEO Elon Musk’s somewhat recent jump into politics and his actions since have turned off many buyers, leading to drops in sales in some of the automaker’s more critical global markets.
Tesla sales dropped 60 percent in Germany last month and 63 percent in France. The UK recorded an eight-percent decline despite seeing a 21-percent increase in EV registrations in January. Perhaps most worryingly for Tesla, its sales in China fell 11.5 percent last month. The country is especially vital to its worldwide growth goals, as it’s the largest market for electric and hybrid vehicles, and some of the world’s largest electric automakers are based there.
The story is similar here in the United States, where Tesla sales fell by 11.6 percent, causing the entire state’s EV sales to level off for the month. Registrations of other EV brands increased by 1.4 percent at the same time, and that includes gas vehicles, not just electric models.
I blamed Musk for Tesla’s woes at the outset here, and that’s easy to do, but the reality is that there are several factors at work here. The automaker’s competition has had plenty of time to catch up, meaning there are many Tesla alternatives available now. Sales often slow down in China around the turn of a new calendar year, but the country’s lower-cost domestic brands have proven more popular than Tesla’s vehicles with many buyers.
Of course, lots of people blame Elon’s rightward shift for ditching Tesla. The upside of that for the automaker is that some republicans seem to be softening their stance on EVs, which could bring Tesla new buyers from the other side of the aisle.
[Images: Tesla]
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