At the end of October, Tesla boss Elon Musk (51) took over Twitter. It’s been causing unrest in the news service ever since: new functions are announced and canceled again, employees are fired and rehired – pure chaos that has also deterred advertisers. Recently, the debate on freedom of expression has escalated on the platform, especially due to Musk’s own tweets: who will be blocked, who will come back? A clear leadership course looks different.
The new boss is hurting not only Twitter but also his second flagship company with his erratic behavior: Musk’s Twitter drama also paints the image of electric car pioneer Tesla, as recent polls have shown. At the beginning of December, research institute Civey on behalf of the German magazine “Spiegel” asked potential car buyers in Germany for their opinion on Tesla. Nearly half said that Musk’s recent behavior has clearly turned their attitude towards Tesla negative.
Two-thirds find Tesla unsympathetic
About 69 percent of respondents rated Tesla as very unsympathetic; In the popularity ranking of German automakers – Tesla also manufactures in Grünheide in Brandenburg – the brand took the last place. Only nine percent find Tesla “very” or “pretty cute.” A study by the Puls Institute came to similar conclusions: About 61 percent of respondents see the negative impact of Twitter purchases on Tesla’s image, and nearly half assume many potential customers will avoid buying Tesla.
According to the US institute Morning Consult, Tesla is losing support in the United States – about 20 percent among Democratic Party supporters. For environmental and climate protection reasons, they were specifically part of Tesla’s core customers. Musk’s recent right-wing or conspiracy theory tweets are now causing a change of attitude. And: At the same time, Tesla’s popularity among Republican supporters rose four percent, according to Morning Consult.
Sales drop coming?
It remains to be seen if the falling popularity will also be reflected in the actual sales drops at Tesla. Because: The brand is still the world market leader in electric vehicles. 52,000 copies were sold in Germany between January and November 2022 – every seventh new electric car in Germany comes from Tesla. In Switzerland, Tesla’s Model Y (4,081 units) and Model 3 (3145) are currently number one and fifth in the 2022 sales statistics.