Even as the clouds grow darker for Tesla, analysts continue searching for silver linings. Analysts expected Tesla to deliver 390,000 electric vehicles between January and March. The so-called whisper number was lower, but Tesla badly missed even the lowest expectations, delivering just 336,681 EVs.
How much of this shortfall was due to a backlash against Elon Musk’s hard-right politics?
About 90 per cent, estimated Deepwater’s Gene Munster. Musk-related brand issues are a “major factor”, agreed Wedbush’s Dan Ives, saying the numbers “were a disaster on every metric”.
The “more political [Musk] gets with Doge [Department of Government Efficiency], the more the brand suffers”, he added.
Strong words, and yet both analysts arguably underestimate Tesla’s brand damage. After all, it’s not just Musk’s Doge work – in Europe, his forays into far-right politics are much more topical. Like Ives, Munster wants Musk to quit Doge and refocus on Tesla, and cheered reports that Musk will soon be stepping back from Doge.
The coming quarters will be lousy, but “this too shall pass”, Munster posted on X. Sales will rise 35 per cent in 2026 as consumers “move past Elon’s political involvement”, he said, adding: “Let the $TSLA brand healing begin”.
Would that it were so simple. “Leaving Doge is a good start but it doesn’t change his tweeting garbage daily,” says Tesla investor and Musk critic Ross Gerber. “The brand is broken and may not be fixable.”
