Paris (AFP) – Elon Musk’s rapprochement with US President Donald Trump, his backing of European far-right parties, and attacks on diversity policies could drive European buyers away from Tesla, analysts say. In both Germany and France, sales of the electric pioneer’s cars were halved year-on-year in January 2025, while a series of isolated incidents targeting Tesla have set off alarm bells among buyers and industry analysts alike. “Nobody wants to be associated with Musk’s behaviour,” said German automotive industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer. Yet the brand and its boss are “almost inseparable,” he added.
The backlash has been particularly strong in Germany, where Musk has voiced firm support for the far-right AfD party — a political taboo in a country where the Nazi past remains a sensitive subject. Stickers bearing the message “I bought this car before Elon went crazy” started showing up on German Tesla cars, as they had in the United States. Musk, the world’s richest man, also drew uproar with a gesture at a Trump rally critics likened to a Nazi salute — allegations which the Tesla boss has rejected. At the end of January, activists projected a giant image of Musk’s gesture and the word “Heil” onto the outside of a Tesla plant near Berlin.
“Germany remains very sensitive to its history and Musk’s political rhetoric is potentially toxic, given that Tesla consumers are partly motivated by environmental concerns,” said German automotive analyst Matthias Schmidt.
– Think carefully –
“The car is good,” 60-year-old Enrico Parano said about his Tesla. But the Frankfurt-based banking executive said he would think “very carefully before buying it (today) because of Musk’s behaviour,” and that he was considering selling his Tesla shares. “It’s scary to give money to this guy,” said Adriaan, a young French doctor who bought his Tesla second-hand. He said he feared, however, an environmental catastrophe if the world put the brakes on the transition to electric vehicles.
Other incidents targeting the Tesla brand or its owner, now a close adviser of Trump, have taken place outside Germany. In the Netherlands, a Tesla showroom was vandalised with swastika graffiti and anti-fascist slogans in early February, according to media outlet Dutch News. In Poland, Tourism Minister Slawomir Nitras said it was “necessary to respond firmly” to Musk, hinting at a possible boycott.
– Fans in their 30s –
Any boycott’s impact would be hard to measure as Tesla has already been hampered by a number of obstacles in the European Union. Tesla’s range of vehicles is ageing, and the brand has been faced with an avalanche of competing models overcrowding a slowing market. Tesla declined to comment on the situation. Its global sales, however, remained stable last year, and since Trump’s election, company shares have climbed to a record high.
“Tesla today is two sides of the same coin,” said Ieva Englund of Swedish institute Novus, which conducted an online survey at the end of January. Englund said half of the Swedish population was either positive or neutral toward the brand, praising its innovative feat and environmental impact. Men aged between 35 and 49 years old, which Englund said could be considered as Tesla’s main target group, remain “relatively positive” toward the brand. But the deadlock around Swedish Tesla employees who have been on strike for more than a year demanding better wages and work conditions, as well as Musk’s recent actions “make everyone else see red,” she said.
© 2024 AFP
