Is Elon Musk hurting Tesla? (Mod Note Post #1)

Folks, a couple of objectors here, possibly virtue-signalling - who knows. One in particular, well known for it.

Meanwhile a whole heap of new Tesla customers just from this single board.

Rumours of an imminent collapse greatly overstated I reckon.

I'm considering getting bumper stickers to the tune of "I didn't know he was crazy when I bought this car" maybe with the addition of Ukranian and EU flag stickers to keep the haters away.

But then I consider, the people who hate musk tend to be on the more "peaceful protest" side of arguments. Conversely the usual suspects that would go around damaging cars would probably agree with Drumpf policies, so a lot of the reports might be overinflated somewhat. Remember as well there's a cohort of the media, and indeed social media, that want to see the EV movement stopped. Then there's the whole believing anything you see on social media

Until end of quarter sales figures are released I would be inclined to take these news headlines with a pinch of salt.

It would be nice if he was less nuts mind…

regarding the Share price, the recent drops have actually just brought it back to exactly the level on election day Nov 6th (curiously enough it’s the identical trend to dogecoin, which rose the same % and is back to Nov 5th levels).
Tsla is farrr from a memecoin, but the correlation is interesting - both are trading on momentum and vibes for the past 6 months

Well it’s still 14%, which is industry leading, but it’s dropping hard in the results in each financial - Q4 was 14%, down from 19%.

To add some context, the massive manufacturers like the Germans and Toyota operate around 7-9% margins, bearing in mind that they have dozens of models of varying margins, some loss making, whereas Tesla have 2 large volume family cars.

e.g It’s likely the margin on a Rav 4 or an X2/X3 is similar to a model Y, but I’ve no idea

When he's throwing Nazi salutes and trying to interfere in the electoral processes of foreign countries, promoting extreme right wing ideals, then yes it makes sense.

On top of that he's gutting the agencies that investigate the safety of his cars, whilst managing to offload his cyberjunk to the military as no one else is buying them and he's not even sn elected official.

You're wasting your breath, Musk's antics are being used as a lighthouse for anti-Tesla sentiment.

Long will it continue, and that's fine.

Driving my Tesla in Ireland sometimes feels like wearing a red Maga hat

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025/03/03/driving-a-tesla-sometimes-feels-like-the-equivalent-of-wearing-a-red-maga-hat/

I guess there’s a few interested parties- those who wish to keep the prices of Tesla at past levels so they won’t lose out- fair enough. Those who wish to see the demise of the company- those who are encouraging a talk down of the brand to enable cheaper secondhand values, so they can purchase themselves.

This thread is unlikely to impact sales prices overall but attitudes in general will - I do know people who have stated that they’ll never buy a Tesla- for some people, indeed many people -personal values are very strong motivating factors and influence their life choices. Tesla will likely dive or survive in the hands of these people.
From a markets perspective, I’d predict an increase in secondhand Tesla sales by owners worried of a price dive in secondhand prices no less those whose personal values influence them to sell.

A market equilibrium will emerge in time I suppose but yeah I’m sure current owners are worried.

You’re being a bit selective - it’s only EV registrations, and only for February. Tesla’s delivery schedule is out of sync with the Irish market and always has been.

Tesla accounts for 1.1% of the new car market for 2025 to date, and Jan/Feb are the biggest sales months of the year bar July, so there will be months where Tesla have disproportionate market share.

Or to put it another way - 99% of buyers chose something else.

Yes, I am being selective, I selected one car brand and the sales figures for one month this year and the corresponding month last year. If you take January and February into account 2024 figures saw 412 cars sold and 2025 saw 540 cars sold. An increase of about 31%. IE 31% more sales of Tesla this year so far than last year

Do you want to try that post again but this time in English?

A dozen Teslas were burnt out at a dealership in Toulouse yesterday

Even if you didn't care about Tesla I can imagine there strong emotions around that would make a Tesla dealership a target to get back at Trump for his ambush last Friday.