New York: Shares of Tesla are sliding again Monday as confidence in Elon Musk’s electric car company continues to disintegrate following a post-election “Trump bump”. In afternoon trading Monday, Tesla shares fell $36.66, or 14%, to $226.11. That’s the lowest Tesla shares have traded since late October, reflecting investors’ newfound pessimism as the automaker’s sales crater around the globe.
Many analysts have blamed Tesla’s sagging stock — and auto sales — on Musk’s support of President Donald Trump and other far right candidates around the world. Musk pumped $270 million into Trump’s campaign heading into the 2024 election, appeared on stage with him and cheered Trump’s victory over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in November. Tesla stock soared to $479 per share by mid-December, but have since tumbled back to earth, losing 40% of their value.
Following his big campaign donation, Musk has become the face of the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn government downsizing efforts, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The department has promised massive federal worker layoffs and drastically reduced government spending.
Analysts have said that doesn’t appear to sit well with potential Tesla buyers, generally perceived to be wealthy, environmentally-conscious liberals who have turned to electric vehicles in an attempt to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
Tesla sales are falling in California, the company’s biggest US market, and the company recorded its first annual global sales decline last year.
The latest auto sales figure from China show that Tesla sales there have been nearly halved from February a year ago.
Similarly, Tesla sales plunged 45% in Europe in January, according to research firm Jato Dynamics, even as overall electric vehicle sales rose.
The sales numbers were particularly bad in Germany and France in January, down roughly 60% each, more than the average decline for the more than two-dozen European countries surveyed. Sales in France fell another 26% in February.
Tesla showrooms in the US have been besieged by protesters, its vehicles vandalised and bumper stickers appearing on its cars with sayings such as, “I bought it before Elon went nuts.” In addition to backing Trump, Musk has also shown support for the far-right, pro-Russian, anti-Muslim party in Germany, called the British prime minister an “evil tyrant” and called Canada — a major Tesla market —”not a real country”.
Tesla is not the only Musk-led company to run into trouble recently. His X social media platform crashed several times on Monday, which Musk blamed on a “massive cyberattack.
Last week, a massive rocket launched by Musk’s SpaceX exploded and broke apart over Florida, about two months after another of the company’s rockets failed, sending flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos.
