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Elon Musk's reputation is falling, and with it Tesla
According to Caliber, a company that monitors the reputation of global corporations, Elon Musk's controversial appearance and, to put it mildly, special behavior in recent years, very likely had a significant impact on the decline in Tesla's sales.
Reuters published data from a recent survey in which Caliber found that only 31 percent of those who had the option would buy Tesla services or products today. In November 2021, when Tesla recorded the highest score of 70 percent in this same survey, Musk's influence was not yet so great. This January alone, Tesla's reputation fell by 8 percent. For comparison, we can say that rivals in the field of sales of electric vehicles, for example Audi, BMW and Mercedes, increased their result or reputation and all scored between 44 and 47 percent.
A separate survey by analysts at CivicScience, which tracks approval of Musk among American consumers, shows that 42 percent of respondents currently disapprove of Musk. When it announced its acquisition of Twitter in April 2022, that figure was 32 percent. Since then, Tesla's CEO has been embroiled in numerous scandals, from various X-related practices to frequent communications about conspiracy theories and other instances of damaging rhetoric.
Caliber claims that 83 percent of Americans surveyed associated Tesla with Musk, with Caliber CEO Shahar Silbershatz telling Reuters that “it’s very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputation decline.” Additional data provided to Reuters by brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance shows a similar decline in Tesla’s reputation among consumers in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
If Musk’s polarizing behavior is affecting Tesla’s sales, it will be one of the key factors behind its weaker performance this year. The company warned in January that its growth in 2024 “could be significantly lower” than last year. It is currently preparing its 2025 vehicle lineup. Tesla also faces increasing competition from electric vehicle providers such as Rivian and China’s BYD. In its first-quarter production report, it attributed the sales decline to production delays and supply disruptions.
More than a year ago, Bloomberg looked for similar connections between Musk's declining reputation and Tesla's volatile stock price. Since then, Musk has done practically nothing useful for his personality.
