Donald Trump is said to have recently had a meeting with Elon Musk as part of his fundraising efforts. This has sparked discussions on whether a possible contribution from Musk might cause dissent among prospective buyers of Tesla. However, Musk later declared that neither Trump nor Joe Biden would be beneficiaries of his donations. Yet, this doesn’t foreclose the likelihood of Musk donating to a Trump-supporting political action committee. Whether such donation holds significance at this point is debatable, as Musk’s political behaviours have already imparted damage to Tesla’s brand. According to a Brand Finance report last month, Tesla lost its title as the world’s most valuable car brand to Mercedes-Benz due to “controversies surrounding Elon Musk”. Consequently, Tesla’s brand value plummeted by 12 per cent.
In a 2023 Bloomberg poll of Tesla owners, a considerable minority expressed their intention to leave Tesla, primarily due to their disapproval of Elon Musk. Also, dissatisfaction with Tesla’s brand perception played a crucial role, with an owner stating his reluctance to have his car seen as an “Elon Musk conversation starter”.
Musk doesn’t seem deterred by these criticisms. Last week, he took to Twitter to express his views on US immigration, accusing the government of both “importing voters” and creating a national security risk from unchecked deceitful immigrants.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s shares have seen a drastic dip of nearly 30 per cent in 2024. For the first time in over a year, Tesla no longer ranks among the top 10 largest American companies by market capitalisation. Various facets contribute to this, including price slashes and fragility in the Chinese market. However, Musk’s controversial tweets appear to be exacerbating Tesla’s predicament.
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