Donald Trump reportedly met Elon Musk recently in a fundraising push, prompting debate as to whether a Musk donation might alienate potential Tesla buyers. Musk subsequently said he would not be donating to Trump or Joe Biden.
That’s not necessarily the end of the matter – Musk could yet donate to a PAC (political action committee) supporting Trump.
Anyway, would a donation would make any difference at this stage? After all, Musk’s political antics have already damaged Tesla’s brand. Last month, a Brand Finance report said Tesla has lost its position as the world’s most valuable auto brand to Mercedes-Benz, with “controversies surrounding Elon Musk” affecting Tesla’s reputation and causing its brand value to sink 12 per cent.
A 2023 Bloomberg poll of Tesla owners found a “notable minority say they’re done with Tesla”, the main reason being “disapproval of Elon Musk”. Another reason was unhappiness with Tesla’s brand perception, with one owner saying he didn’t want his car “to be an Elon Musk conversation starter”.
[ Chinese electric cars power ahead of ‘inferior’ US rivalsOpens in new window ]
Musk appears unbothered. Last week, he was busy tweeting about the US border, saying the government is “both importing voters and creating a national security threat from unvetted illegal immigrants”, with the groundwork “being laid for something far worse than 9/11″.
[ OpenAI fires back at Musk allegations with trove of emailsOpens in new window ]
Tesla shares are down almost 30 per cent in 2024. For the first time in 13 months, Tesla is no longer one of the top 10 largest US companies by market capitalisation. Many factors – price cuts and weakness in China among them – are at play, but Musk’s conspiratorial tweets aren’t helping Tesla.
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