Are Elon Musk's politics to blame as Tesla sales tank?

DW (English)

Tesla car sales in Europe are in a slump as electronic cars well on the continent. Some see a connection to Tesla owner Elon Musk's alliance with US President Donald Trump and their shared support for nationalist parties across Europe.

Transcript

00:00A protest against Donald Trump, but also against Tesla.

00:05The company's CEO has thrown his weight behind the American president and far-right parties.

00:11That's turned owning a Tesla into a political statement, and not just here in Silicon Valley.

00:21Ralf Heckels has been driving a Tesla for years.

00:24The engineer from Leipzig in Germany bought the electric vehicle

00:28because he was impressed by its technology at the time.

00:31And he says that doesn't change just because Elon Musk is now in politics.

00:39125,000 employees work at Tesla, including many capable engineers,

00:45and of course business partners who are now seeing their investments slipping away.

00:50I do believe that this company will find its way again.

00:53I also find it unfortunate that people are turning their backs on a technology.

00:58But the number of those who no longer want to support Elon Musk by buying a Tesla is growing,

01:04including in the biggest European auto market in Germany.

01:08New vehicle registrations for Teslas have tumbled.

01:11In February, they fell 76 percent on the month.

01:15Not too far from Berlin, at the Giga factory in Grünheide,

01:19workers are increasingly worried about their jobs.

01:22It's not just car buyers turning their back on Tesla, but investors too.

01:27The share price has tumbled, and the reputation of the EV maker could be damaged for years.

01:34I think there's always a rational part in the purchase decision of a car,

01:39which means that we want to look at the range and we want to have a look at the technical specificities.

01:44But then there's also the more subjective emotional part.

01:48And this is also very important.

01:50And obviously at the moment you have quite a number of people who would not be very satisfied

01:55with what Elon Musk is doing.

01:58Tesla driver Ralf Heckel says he's hoping Elon Musk returns to doing what he does best as quickly as possible.

02:08If Elon were here, we'd first have a beer together.

02:12I'd shake his hand and say to him, you've done well so far, but now get back on track.

02:17You're not a politician, so go back to your roots again.

02:20He'll understand he's messing up at the moment.

02:23You can see it in the quarterly figures or the daily sales numbers.

02:27I hope he understands the reasons and can draw the right conclusions.

02:34In the meantime, Tesla has reportedly warned US President Trump

02:38that it's set to be hit hard by the impact of tariffs.

02:41Just because its boss works for the president,

02:44doesn't mean Tesla can get away lightly from the fallout of his economic policy.

02:53Transcribed by ESO, translated by —

Category

Transcript

Recommended