I had always admired Elon Musk and what he had accomplished. And I always wanted to own a Tesla car. I decided that the Model S was out of my price range, so I waited for the Model 3. I was one of the first ones to purchase a Model 3 seven years ago. And I am considering getting my next Tesla Model 3 soon.
Having said all of this, I want to speak to the demise of the Tesla brand. Since Elon Musk funded a significant portion (at least $277 million according to one source) of Donald Trump's US presidential campaign and is now a "special government employee" leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Donald Trump, the Tesla brand has been under attack.
Why? Tesla's early adopters wanted to support Tesla's EVs at least partially to combat climate change. They viewed climate change as an existential threat and purchasing a Tesla vehicle as something they could do to reduce that threat in some small way. When Elon Musk supported Donald Trump, who has denied climate change, is hostile toward Electric Vehicles (EVs) and has been quoted as saying "Drill, baby drill," Tesla's founder and his motivations became suspect and out of sync with Tesla's unique value proposition,
People then began to conjecture that Elon Musk's end game in the EV market wasn't as altruistic as it first appeared but rather a brilliant ploy to "own" the fuel supply of the growing EV market through Tesla's Supercharger network, which has now been opened up to most other EV brands. That may also be the reason he shared his EV technology with other automotive manufacturers, so that they would be able to use the same charging technology.
Then one realizes that the Harris administration was very likely to have continued to pursue the Biden administration's investigations of and legal matters against Elon Musk's business interests, something the Trump administration would not likely do. Plus, there are numerous opportunities for increased government contracts for Elon Musk's businesses under the Trump administration.
On top of that is the impact of DOGE's draconian cost reduction measures that have shown a total disregard for functional consequence or human suffering.
Tesla stock hit a new high by the end of 2024 but has declined by 31% since then and some analysts are predicting that it could plunge another 50% over the next year or so. European sales of Tesla's are plunging from 2024 to 2025, because Europeans are tiring of Elon Musk's far right diatribes among other reasons.
California is the biggest market for Teslas in the US accounting for 35% of all Teslas sales, however Tesla's share of EVs in California dropped from 60% to 52% from 2023 to 2024. This corresponds with a double digit decrease in Tesla vehicle sales from one year to the next. And this is despite a growing EV market in California.
Since Elon Musk's Roman salute, anti-Nazi activists have begun calling Teslas "Swasticars" and people driving Teslas have been warned that anti-Nazi activists have begun vandalizing Teslas for this reason.
Several of my friends own Teslas. Some of them are so fed up with Elon Musk that they intend to sell their Teslas and purchase other vehicle brands even though they all admit that they have been very pleased with their Teslas. Country music star Sheryl Crow announced on Instagram that she had sold her Tesla to protest Elon Musk's involvement in President Donald Trump's administration, and donated the earnings to NPR.
All of this speaks to the cognitive dissonance that occurs when a company's founder tarnishes the image of the brand he or she created due to behavior that goes against the brand's raison d'être and unique value proposition. Elon Musk's more recent behavior and rhetoric have worked against what Tesla's admirers thought the Tesla brand was all about.
Now, back to my next car purchase, if it is a Tesla, I will likely get it at a great deal given the state of the Tesla brand, especially if I purchase a used Tesla. (The used EV market tends to be soft anyway given the concern about battery life and cost of replacement.)
This is a cautionary brand story that may go down in the history books and marketing students may be reading about this for years to come.
