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Comment by hn_throwaway_99 | Hacker News Reader

This may get flagged as it's similar to previous articles that were flagged, but I'd just like to point out that ideological arguments pro or con about Tesla stories rarely seem to be the true reason. That is, whenever there is an article about Tesla sales slipping you see lots of "That's because all the liberal EV buyers hate Elon now!" comments. And as much as I may personally want that to be true, if you dig a teeny bit you nearly always find that economic reasons are much more plausible - e.g. as some other comments have pointed out, the rise of competition especially BYD, people holding off for the new model Y, difficulty in finding repairs, etc.

Lots of consumers like to talk a good political game but pocketbook issues always seem to take precedence when push comes to shove.

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I think there are more viable alternatives now than there were a few years ago, which makes it a lot easier to choose an alternative even if the negative brand association with Elon is only a small effect.

Of course, when the viable alternatives were few or none, that negative brand association would have to be much stronger to affect buying decisions.

Maybe, but I do know that in my part of the US, I'd regular see a dozen or so Teslas on the road during my commute. Over the last few weeks, though, I've spotted a total of two. There appear to be a lot of people who have stopped driving them so much.

Yep, I think the availability of other options helps a lot, and it's important we don't lose this competition now that the head of Tesla has somehow finagled a position in government (it will continue to be insane to me every time I think about that).

I bought a Tesla in 2019 - back when it was the Eco conscious car nerd choice, and before he started skewing right.

I liked it so much I got solar for my house from Tesla, along with multiple powerwalls.

Frankly, the car has been an embarrassment to take out into the world for the last three or four years.

With him outing himself as an outright nazi, yesterday I spent fifteen minutes with a heat gun, dental floss, and Goo Gone debadging my car.

I’m profoundly not ok with giving the impression that I am ok with Musk’s abhorrent behavior.

Why don't you just sell the car? seems silly imho

I hope you either:

(A) design your own replacement logo (perhaps something subversive), or

(B) stick on a logo from another brand... Maybe an old British/Euro brand? Or a brand associated with gas-guzzlers. Or an old-school rainbow Apple logo.

Funny you should say this– I'm working on that right now. :-)

I've had a complete Mazda 3 badge set from Fleabay in a drawer in my garage that I ordered when he first started skewing right. I picked those because, if you squint right, it kind of resembles a Mazda 3 (and nobody is going to give it a second thought once they see Mazda badges).

Just downloaded from Thingiverse files for blank wheel center caps for the car and, separately, the Mazda logo. Caps are printing now.

Aiming for stealth rather than activism with the de- and re-badging. Activism is for other venues.

Cool. I occasionally use cryptic branding/marking to cloak valuables as something undesirable to steal.

I think you’re correct. Ideology rarely affects brand penetration this much.

Whenever I talk to people in Europe , they always talk about the other options. Tesla is just not competitive there as a brand.

I do hope that one outcome of this stupid tariff war here is that Canada drops the tariffs on Chinese EVs. They exist to protect US brands but we’re losing out on so many great options.

>Ideology rarely affects brand penetration this much.

CEO's rarely open their mouths this much.

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