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Comment by mongol | Hacker News Reader

Tesla is going down the drain, at least in Europe, unless shareholders evict Musk. Nothing iPhone-like with that brand anymore.

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Not just Europe: CA sales are down double digits recently as well: https://www.newsweek.com/tesla-california-sales-decline-elec...

Doing poorly in the other CA (Canada) as well

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tesla-sales-drop-1.7421653

Out of curiosity, do you know anyone on the political right who feels that way?

It's quite possible to win a market with 30-50% of people liking you. Any if right wing customers buy Teslas for political reasons rather than utility they could reduce quality and increase pricing do even better financially.

Right-wing customers in an EV? Tell us another one.

The fascinating thing is that the political right largely prefers ICE vehicles in the USA. This is a combination of factors, like more rural voters who need more range/work more blue collar jobs/haul firewood/etc. Combined with a personality type that is more cautious about change. And also, the insane prices for things like Teslas here. Perhaps Musk's close association with President Trump will gain him a small number of new rich fans on the political right, but most common Americans in most of the country aren't even considering a Tesla to begin with, and it's the majority of folks with lower incomes that put Trump back in office this time.

The political right in Europe is not the same as the political right in the US. I am myself on the right side of the political spectrum and I despise Trump and more recently Musk. You can probably still find people that don't care, but they are going to be far, far fewer than 30%. Owning a Tesla has become something people apologise for.

Tesla makes great products.

Tesla has great battery and motor tech. Their quality control and car interiors leave a lot to be desired.

The interior (and exterior) misfeatures is why wouldn't buy a Tesla... also, I'd prefer a slightly smaller car.

This sounds like political venting more than a financial analysis.

The parent specified in Europe. It's a fact that in January 2025, European Tesla sales have had significant YoY declines, attributed to Musk's political activity. A greater than 50% drop in sales in France and Germany, for example.

Here are a couple sources.

https://www.ft.com/content/ea2329e4-b4bc-4e2d-be34-e9a8ea311...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/business/tesla-germany-el...

I cannot read the FT article, but the nyt article says sales have halved, and are now under 2k per month in Germany.

So it sounds like their sakes were tiny before this halving. And with numbers that low, one ad campaign or new model by VW could change them.

His donations to parties in Germany seems like a weird reason why. He's done all sorts of things in the past, and sales went up.

"Tesla’s sales plummet across Europe"

Financial Times January 2025

https://www.ft.com/content/ea2329e4-b4bc-4e2d-be34-e9a8ea311...

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