Tesla Sales Drop Worldwide Amid Growing Backlash Against Elon Musk

Photo : AFP

Tae Helton, a car lover who lives just a few minutes away from Tesla's main factory in California, bought a Tesla car for his family and almost bought another one last year.

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But after Elon Musk made a gesture that looked like a Nazi salute during a ceremony for President Donald Trump last month, Helton doesn't want to have anything to do with Tesla anymore.

"I don’t feel proud about driving it anymore," Helton said about the Tesla Model 3 he has driven for only 2,500 miles. The 49-year-old, who considers himself politically moderate, plans to pay off his car loan early and trade in the car before the end of the year.

Helton is not the only one feeling this way. Many Tesla customers are unhappy. Tesla’s sales dropped by 45% in Europe in January, and the company saw its first annual decline in global sales in more than 10 years. The company is struggling in places where Elon Musk is getting involved in politics in ways that don't fit with Tesla’s mission and values.

In California, Tesla’s sales went down by 12% last year. This happened after Musk publicly criticized California leaders, who helped the company survive tough times and grow into one of the most valuable car companies in the world.

In Germany, where Tesla sales dropped by 41% last year and 59% in January, Musk has supported a far-right political group that denies the harm of carbon dioxide emissions. In the UK, which is the largest market in Europe for electric vehicles, Musk has backed politicians who want to cancel net-zero targets and consider policies encouraging EV adoption as harmful to drivers.

"Tesla’s biggest problem in 2025 is not its technology — it’s how people see it," said Jacob Falkencrone, a leader at Saxo, a bank from Denmark. "Musk’s actions are now hurting sales, the loyalty of customers, and trust in the company."

Musk’s controversial actions are not new. A survey in 2023 by showed that Tesla owners felt worse about Musk compared to a few years ago.

This year, the criticism has gotten much stronger. At Tesla’s Berlin factory, activists showed a video of Musk’s gesture on the side of the building, and the video was watched millions of times. Tesla showrooms have been damaged in places like the Netherlands, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. People have also protested outside Tesla stores in many US cities.

"I don’t think any company has lost its brand value this fast," said Tom Price, a man from Berkeley, California, who joined a protest with a sign that read “Don’t Drive DOGE,” referring to Musk’s connection to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. "Tesla has become a symbol of the harm to democracy."

In Sweden, where many people drive Teslas, there has been a sharp drop in sales of Model Y and Model 3 cars. In fact, registrations of the Model Y fell 48%, and Model 3 sales dropped 31% in January.

A Pew Research survey found that many Americans have an unfavorable view of Musk, and a study by Quinnipiac University found that many people believe he has too much power in the US. A Republican strategist who supports EV adoption says that people who drive gas cars now like Musk more than electric car owners do.

"I used to be loved by people on the left," Musk said in an interview with Donald Trump. "Not so much anymore."

Despite all this, Tesla management is optimistic about 2025 and expects the business to grow. The company did not give exact numbers but said that the first part of the year was slow due to some factory changes, which resulted in a few weeks of lost production.

Tesla is also preparing to release more affordable models in the first half of this year, but they haven't shared many details. Tesla's shares have fallen by 37% since reaching their highest point in December, but they are still up by 20% since the election in November.

However, some customers are now looking at other options. Eric Thurber, a man from the San Francisco Bay Area, bought a Model 3 in 2021 and planned to keep it for five or six years. But after the inauguration, he decided to sell it at a loss. He found that the car was losing value fast and traded it for a BMW i4 electric car.

Micah Barber, a college professor in Austin, Texas, owns a gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox SUV and plans to buy an electric car next. Although he admired Tesla's innovation, he has decided not to buy one because of Musk’s behavior. "He’s become one of the most dangerous people in our country," Barber said during a protest in Texas.

Other car brands are gaining market share at Tesla’s expense. In California, Honda and Hyundai sold more EVs last year. In Germany, Volkswagen and BMW have seen their sales grow. Lucid Group, a company that makes the $69,900 Air sedan, has also been seeing more interest from former Tesla owners. Polestar, another electric car maker, has told its salespeople to target unhappy Tesla customers.

"Tesla used to be the only big name in electric cars," said BJ Birtwell, CEO of Electrify Expo, which organizes EV festivals. "Now, many other car companies have strong EV options that are really competing with Tesla."

Helton, the man from California, who had planned to buy another Tesla, changed his mind after Musk’s political actions. He and his family decided to lease a Hyundai Ioniq 5 instead.

"I always felt like if I couldn’t make a difference with my vote, I could do it by voting with my wallet," Helton said. "Lately, that’s what I’ve been doing."