Elon Musk’s backing of Donald Trump is hurting Tesla’s struggling EV business in Europe
German drugstore chain Rossmann said that Elon Musk's support for Donald Trump, the Republican candidate who calls climate change a hoax, goes against Tesla's mission—and it wants out.
I think he should sue the EU customers! It's unfair their political beliefs are hurting his business.
Good idea. Then, this entitled, out-of-touch crybaby can sue the kid that took his juice in Kindergarten!
I hate that becoming a certain level of rich can guarantee that you will never not be rich even if you’re the dumbest motherfucker that ever tried to do business.
Maybe it doesn't reach your criteria of a "certain level", but there's definitely stories of people winning significant amounts of money in the lottery and being broke years later because they are morons.
You need to reach the level and get the nepotism engine to collect you. A lotto winner could probably attend an event and sieg heil in front of Peter Thiel. That's like calling a taxi into nepotism. Typical lotto winners just spend it all frivolously instead.
You’re not seriously comparing a lotto winner to someone with global oligarch levels of wealth right now, are you? I have more respect for your intelligence than that my man.
I'm target demo for a Tesla. Upper middle class techie. My next car will be an EV and I actually like Teslas. I like a lot of things about them but I will absolutely not buy one while Elon is in charge of the company. Fuck that guy. He's not getting any of my money.
Ditto. I have 3 requirements above the current cars though:
The physical control is a big one. I'm not using software capable of driving a vehicle that's made and controlled by a Nazi.
Media also. It's super valuable to change songs with no fiddling.
Same here, even with all the BS around Twitter and his political views... I WAS still considering a Tesla, but with the pro-Trump PAC and the deep fakes on Xitter it's just another level of bullshit.
Hoping he gets forced out in the next year because I also don't want to buy from a dealership, which doesn't leave me a lot of options for an EV.
Same demographic, but sadly I already bought a model Y cause I wanted a 7 seater with a 5 star crash safety rating...
Needless to say the car isn't good enough to compromise on my morals moving forward and the next car will probably be that VW Buzz. That thing looks so fun.
Bought one too. I have a model 3 which I really enjoy and would probably have bought another Tesla next if it wasn't for Elon going mad.
So sadly no more Tesla for me. Buzz is nice, as is the beemer i4.
Same here, some friends of mine really got into car hacking with Teslas in particular and I was looking forward to sharing more hobbies with them. But at this point, I'd be embarrassed as hell to tell anyone I intentionally bought a Tesla, even a used one. And besides, if I really want the "sleek futuristic electric car by the dedicated electric car company", Rivian exists (unless their CEO is somehow worse than Elon 😬😩)
I got a Cadillac lyric instead and I love it
That's good, because people really do conflate the drivers with Elon's fans, and also with Trump. I'm one of them. Fuck Elon, and fuck every Tesla driver.
Same. Upper middle class and work for a large hyperacaler.
Tesla was the only one excluded from my recent EV search. Loving the Polestar 2 so far.
Watch him try to sue potential buyers.
Germany's satire newspaper Der Postillon already has an article about that. Amazing article, really.
https://www.der-postillon.com/2024/08/cybertruck-klage.html
"The fact that billions of people still haven't bought a Cybertruck and that Tesla's stock market value is rapidly declining is a conspiracy of left-wing woke elites and a major threat to freedom of speech," Musk continued, while handing hush money to a newly pregnant employee. "To everyone who doesn't have a Cybertruck yet: Fuck You!"
I'd love an EV that is fast and affordable like a tesla. I wanted a tesla but couldn't afford it. Now I can afford it but there is no way in hell I'm buying one. Fuck him, he should fuck off to Mars or the sun, either is a big W for the world.
I only like the part where you can just order from the website instead of going to a dealership where after one hour of talking and giving you a plethora of personal data that is guaranteed to inundate you with spam they tell you that due to high demand the car sells for 3k over MSRP
For the rest, while I really like the clean design, for me a car must have
He doesn’t deserve to go to Mars before NASA
I'm banking on him not making it there, and if he does, it was a one way trip.
He’s not. He’s a bloviating idiot with no idea about what he’s talking about. He’s been able to look smart by throwing money at problems, but going to Mars is going to be a money pit for him.
I have no idea why NASA still contracts with him. We can’t talk about Jack Parsons, because he was besties with Crowley and did sex rituals to summon the AntiChrist (which just makes him cooler IMHO) - but Muskrat can do whatever he wants.
The mission to mars will be well after he builds the hyper loop across California, US, and Tesla implements full self driving. In other words, it's something he told investors to secure their investment for something shorter term, while making it sound like he's thinking far into the future.
And if he ever does sacrifice some suckers to keep up appearances, I don't think he'd put up his hand to be one of them!
I kinda expect a lot of people will come to regret going, seeing as it's a dead nearly-airless rock too far from Earth for synchronous communication, so he can go first, that's fine.
I actively don't want a fast EV. Maybe a quick one but I don't want a fast one.
I like having more horsepower than minimum viable but who needs it to go from 0 to 90 in 2.1 femptoseconds? If it can keep up with or slightly outgun my Buick Century we'll be okay.
Why would I want my EV to carry around the weight of the motors necessary to perform like a supercar?
Well said. Gradual acceleration is far more energy efficient, safest, and less damaging to the vehicle so driving like a grandpa is definitely the smartest way to drive.
Yep.. People use Tesla as an example of EVs failing
It's not falling because of EVs, it's falling because the guy running it is so dodgy that consumers can't be sure they're not going to fuck things up in the future.
It also doesn't help that Elon lies about things he doesn't need to (even stupid things like calling the cave diver a pedo) and that makes potential consumers wonder what else he's lying about.
I'd rather buy from a company ran buy someone who's main job is running the company rather than being a social media MAGA influencer
Pretty much. It wouldn't surprise me if long term Elon tries to run for office too as a right wing candidate now that Trump has shown to him that you can abuse the office for unethical reasons.
As his business drops, it will increasingly become profitable for him to push for no workers rights and increasingly worse consumer rights
I love that he managed to help push EVs mainstream, but he's now a detriment
It's actually an example of having 1 leader at the top being a failure versus a democratic company that has workers vote on decisions and press releases etc
Also in America. Here in California I know several people that sold their Tesla because of lonE skuM and many more who wouldn’t buy because of him. I myself have told Tesla recruiters in two occasions that I’d never work for that piece of shit
Recruiters??!?!!?!
Why in the world would he possibly need to recruit people:
All the best talent will be lining up for some of that!!!!
At this point having Tesla on your résumé means you couldn’t do better.
"yes, i would like to relocate and dedicate my life to a company that might fire the entire team just because one day the CEO snorted too much ketamine"
I was in the market for an EV shortly after he took over twitter. I ruled Tesla out because I do not want to be seen to support that douche in any way.
I actually bought my Tesla about a year before he took over Twitter. The supercharger network has proven itself on a few long trips, which is the main reason I’m holding onto it for now.
I can pretty much guarantee that my next car will be an EV but definitely not a Tesla. Since virtually all EV manufacturers have announced support for J3400 in the next few years I figure there will be a handful of decent options for me to choose from in 5-10 years.
I'm one. When he moved Tesla engineers to work on Twitter and then went on an unhinged anti-Trans rant in the middle of an earnings call, I shopped around and traded in my model 3. I always assumed the major selling point of a Tesla was the software, but he keeps fucking with the people who make it.
I think a lot of it was the charging network. What happened with that again? Oh yeah. He fired that whole team.
Enough about this douche canoe, can he disappear from social sphere? I don't want to hear about this guy rant every day for the next 50 years !
Which one?
Yes.
You hit it right!
There is literally an avenue in which we can put him on a rocket and send him to Mars. I am all for it.
No, because he's rich and influencial and keeps saying and doing shit that gets him front page in the news. That's the way the world works unfortunately.
I think we'd all love that. I genuinely wish the asshole would take a trip to see the titanic.
Tesla would be right to dump this clown, but he ain't leaving without killing Tesla first.
72% of stakeholder vote favored giving him a stupid huge bonus, even stupid by rich billionaire standards. This was after TSLA took a hit and their sales were down and their unit prices were way down.
Tesla's all in on Musk. Probably easier to accept as someone who never did like their particular cars and if anything is a bit annoyed that the traditional car companies felt compelled to copy the stupid parts of Tesla when making their EVs. I can see if someone liked Tesla how they could hope to evict Musk... Just not going to happen.
The problem is that Tesla is a meme stock. It's stupidly overpriced for a car company with such little production.
They could get rid of musk and try to turn it into a normal company with solid fundamentals but this would remove its meme status and crash the share price anyway.
There's no way to fix Tesla without burning it's stock price to the ground, so anyone involved is just going to try to ride the crazy train as long as possible.
Come on Elon, make the Cybertruck 2 and really fuck everything up.
After that vote I will enjoy seeing the shareholders should get exactly what they voted for.
That just means their stakeholders deserve the financial ruin that's coming to them.
They're all his friends and family who Musk made very rich. They're not gonna dump him.
It’s hurting it in the USA too. All the lefties I know who own Teslas are pretty much ashamed of them now. None of the maga are suddenly going to start buying electric cars.
Maybe they should buy EVs to own the libs.
That would… make me angry. So angry. Noooo…. Don’t!
🫣
It's hurting in the US too. I am not a hard partisan but I would never buy a Tesla anymore because I'd be worried of being seen as making a political statement. I'm probably in the market for an electric vehicle in the next few years.
When I first started seeing Tesla cars on the road, I would think, "Must be nice. I can't wait for the price of Teslas to go down."
Now when I see them, I wonder if the driver regrets owning one.
Guy who owned the company I used to work for owned one when it was considered prestigious, and last year traded it in for a Genesis.
I've owned two Teslas and have previously raved about them to colleagues. My current Y is my last Tesla.
It's weird that as a liberal, driving a Tesla is frowned upon.
Like, I get it, Musk is way more weird. But that there's an electric car that I can't buy for fear of being viewed as a conservative. That's kinda weird.
the word conservative is not what you think it means anymore. It had some meaning maybe 10 years ago, but now it's synonymous with another word
buying that electric car is basically proclaiming to the world that you support a white supremacist/facist so yeah lmao not that weird
It’s hurting them in America, too. I used to own a Model 3 and I liked the car a lot, but I would never buy a Tesla again now and it’s all because of this douchebag.
Yeah, same. I'm in the market for an EV over the next few years, and Tesla went from the top of the list to the bottom in remarkably short order.
Elon Musk ’s backing of Donald Trump is hurting Tesla’s struggling EV business in Europe
Elon Musk ’s backing of Donald Trump is hurting Tesla ’s struggling EV business in Europe
All the rich folks I know avoid Tesla like the plague because they prefer some level of political ambiguity while driving. Even if they're driving a $500k Porsche, it doesn't come with the "this company is proudly run by a right wing asshole everyone has heard of" vibe, just the regular "I'm rich, SEE!" vibe.
The rich people I've spoken with just don't think they're premium enough. It had nothing to do with politics. Most of their politics line up conservative anyway.
Got some bad news for you...
It's different when they've been dead for a long time. If we avoided anything that has had connections to the NSDAP, the majority of old German brands would be boycotted.
Average person has no clue about this compared to Musk. Not surprised that the founder of a luxury brand is a bastard though.
That's a worry! I'll stick with my trusty Ford!
......What?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_involved_in_the_Holocaust
Dawg, it's so many companies you interact with on a regular basis, often without even knowing it. Times change.
Hope you haven't taken a Thyssen-Krupp elevator lately or gotten an X-ray from a Siemens machine, otherwise you're supporting Nazis 😡 /s
I was saving for a Tesla until Elon went off the rails. What a douche. Not supporting that.
Same. My friends were planning to upgrade their Tesla and said, yeeeah no thanks" as Musk went on the deep end.
I'm actually in the market for a new car, and it's going to be an EV, but Tesla is not on my short list. (not just because of Musk, also because I think those cars are hideous, and I really dislike how a single iPad is used for everything. I need some physical buttons, especially for the airco unit) Instead I'm looking at the Renault Scenic or the Kia EV3.
Not a problem, he will just sue everyone that did not buy a Tesla.
shame.gif
If you're going to pivot your entire personality towards being the biggest cunt possible (starting with calling someone a pedo because he made you look silly and snowballing from there), you can expect consequences eventually.
Even if it's just being slightly less grotesquely wealthy.
The real Tesla killer was inside the room all along.
I'm gonna need another decade or two before I get an EV.
I'm gonna wait for the $15,000 economy shitbox model. Whoever ends up making it.
Citroen Ami is around 7k €
Noooo people need EV's that do 0-100 in 2 seconds that cost 80k
All I need it run is 65. I want to go weeks between recharges. I don't care about speed.
Good.
/shocked
I still think my Tesla is the best car I've ever owned but boy do I wish it was called something else right now. Musk's weirdness is flowing over.
It's probably also dragging Trump down, which if intentional would be truly genius.
Probably a case of Hanlon's Razor:
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
I just wait until the dice land.
Doesn't hurt that they are also shit cars made out of melted down plastic from burger king kids meal toys and used dental floss and are prone to bursting into flames after "self driving" into walls or freeway medians.
I haven't broken through the paywall, can someone explain why a drugstore chain is being quoted? Do German drugstores sell cars or run deliveries or something?
The chain has a fleet of 800 vehicles, 34 of which are teslas. It seems as though they were going to replace the others with teslas over time, but due to Elon, they decided not to.
They also say they will maintain the teslas they do have, so as to be environmentally responsible.
I'm afraid there isn't that much meat to the story... Here I'll give you the quotes relating to Rossmann, the rest is padding or embedding context if we want to be charitable.
“Elon Musk makes no secret of his support for Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly described climate change as a hoax—this attitude is in stark contrast to Tesla’s mission to contribute to environmental protection through the production of electric cars,” Raoul Rossmann, Rossmann’s spokesman for the management, said in a statement.
Thirty-four of Rossmann’s 800 vehicles are Teslas, the company’s spokesperson told Fortune. The company plans to continue using those vehicles for “sustainability and resource conservation.”
Rossmann is the first major business to cite Musk’s political stance as a reason to halt future Tesla purchases. Other European companies have dropped orders from Tesla for different reasons.
Elon never cared a bit about environment and shit, that's why he wants to land on some other inhabitable planet.
It just happened that there was a void in the market and Tesla was at the right time, introducing expensive luxury ev with long range when the only other options were expensive shitboxes with limited range. Suddenly there was an option to get something that would be worth owning at that price range.
If he really cared the environment he would push for a small and light city vehicle instead of a huge heavy truck with a giant battery that can't be used for actual work
Hey Tesla board. This guy is the entire reason I don't want anything to do with your company.
lol good
Good.
Hmmm, I smell a lawsuit.
To some the future is more important than the present. For others the present is more important.
To each their own.
Except we can't each have our own. Inflation rewards shorter time preferences, so we have a "this quarter" economy we can't opt out of.
So how do we fix that problem? Stay the course, or try to do something now so that our children are better off?
yes... hahaha.... YES!
I really like my Model 3 but I hate the association with Musk, I was considering buying it at the end of the lease but I'm having second thoughts. Yes, I know I've already lined his pockets in a small way!!
I haven't experienced the poor build quality, in the 2.5 years I've had it I've not had any issues and only 1 recall for an o-ring replacement on a gas strut.
Tesla needs to be rescued from Musk by one of the established car manufacturers, my vote would be for Mercedes.
The only thing news like this does is to boost these idiots visibility and bring views to these websites. Don't post this shit
You know that people can see your comment history, right?
Yes, do you?
Stop posting US politics everywhere. This isn't World News. This isn't even news.
Unfortunately US Billionaires have a lot of societal impact outside of the US. They don't care about the arbitrary borders that bound us plebians, they have enough money that the borders functionally don't exist.