He’s widely acknowledged to be one of the most influential powerbrokers in US politics and the ‘most powerful unelected man in the world’.
He has an office in the White House, owns X and is worth an estimated $439billion.
Yet as Elon Musk’s political stardom blossoms it appears to have had an adverse impact on sales of his electric cars.
Tesla posted lower sales across five European countries in January, including the UK, as competitors with newer models gained on the electric vehicle maker and polls show public opinion souring on the controversial CEO.
China’s BYD for the first time on record sold more EVs in Britain than Tesla over a month. In January it recorded 1,614 registrations compared to Tesla’s 1,458 units.
And a new poll of drivers found that three in five now say that Musk puts them off buying a Tesla.
Both current EV and potential EV buyers are turning away from the Musk megalomania, and are instead considering Chinese options, the study by EV website Electrifying.com found.
Billionaire and Tesla owner Elon Musk is reportedly turning buyers off Tesla which his polarising political stances
Musk has made a high-profile foray into politics, with much of his 2024 dominated by his financial support of Donald Trump, on whom the billionaire CEO spent $250million in what proved a successful campaign to return to the White House.
He has stirred controversy with his vocal support for far-right parties in Britain and Germany on his social media platform X and also recently took aim at Keir Starmer, accusing the Prime Minister of being ‘deeply complicit’ in the British ‘police state’ run by a ‘tyrannical government’ where young working-class women are kidnapped by immigrant gangs.
This activity has since been followed by a decline in Tesla demand, it would appear.
Latest figures now show that Tesla UK sales fell nearly 8 per cent in January, even as monthly EV registrations in Europe’s biggest battery-electric market surged by over 40 per cent.
It was also the first month on record that a Chinese EV maker outsold Tesla in a single month, with BYD shifting 156 more vehicles than its biggest rival, according to latest industry statistics published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The company fell from second for EV sales in Britain to seventh spot, also dropping behind Volkswagen, Mercedes and Stellantis’ Peugeot, which all posted higher registrations volumes, according to green think tank New AutoMotive.
More BYD electric cars (BYD Dolphin pictured) were registered in the UK than Teslas in January – the first time a Chinese EV maker has overtaken the US giant
It should be made clear, though, that Tesla sales tend to peak depending on when shipments of vehicles arrive, which is typically at the end of each quarter, making January a relatively quiet month.
As the sole spokesperson for Tesla, car buyers could now be seeing Musk’s influence as a deterrent to purchasing an EV from the brand.
Electrifying.com’s survey of 1,000 respondents found that the sentiment is equally strong across both current and prospective buyers, with 59 per cent in each group expressing that Musk’s influence would deter them from choosing a Tesla.
On the other hand, 61 per cent of car buyers would be happy to purchase their next motor from a Chinese manufacturer, and 56 per cent of potential EV buyers expressed the same view.
Ginny Buckley, Chief Executive of Electrifying.com: ‘Our research reveals a major shift in consumer perceptions.
‘Tesla has played a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles, but our findings show that Elon Musk’s personal involvement in Tesla’s brand appears to be polarising, pushing many buyers to look elsewhere.’
Elon Musk and his son attend dinner at Mar-a-Lago with President-elect Donald Trump
Musk’s polarising self-promotion comes as Tesla’s faced challenges in maintain its EV market dominance.
As well as losing its crown as the world’s top electric car producer to BYD, Tesla’s sales fell in 2024 for the first time in over a decade to 1.79 million cars.
While this is only a one per cent drop from 1.8 million in 2023, Tesla was at the same time aggressively price cutting.
In January 2023, Tesla slashed the price of its electric cars in the UK, lowering prices by as much as £9,100 due to ‘normalisation of some of the cost of inflation’.
A Model Y went from £51,990 starting price to £44,990, while the Model 3 Performance saw price cuts of £8,100.
Then in spring last year Tesla cut the prices of its EVs again in a number of markets including the US, China and Germany after sales slumped.
Prices of the Model Y, Model X and Model S in the US were reduced by $2,000 (£1,616).
Posting on X Musk said: ‘Tesla prices must change frequently in order to match production with demand.’
While Elon Musk has always had a very high public profile as the CEO of Tesla – a brand famous for its ‘$0 marketing strategy’ which rejects normal advertising spend in favour of organic marketing from Musk’s personal brand, word of mouth and social media – his fame has risen stratospherically since he bought out Twitter and controversially renamed it X in April 2022.
Many people have turned away from the platform after the US presidential election – 2.7 million people which includes journalists and left-leaning media – as it becomes increasingly seen as a rightwing platform.
But Musk himself has a following of 210 million on X – five times the population of Canada – and says X’s users are ‘the media now.’
His appearances across the MAGA presidential bid, dancing on stage with Trump, at parties at Mar-a-Lago and at the inauguration have churned headlines across the globe.
This week Musk then told 4,500 people via videolink at the AfD’s (Alternative fuer Deutschland) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday that: ‘It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.’
It comes after Musk was accused of appearing to use a Nazi salute twice at Trump’s inauguration event last week after slapping his right hand on his chest before throwing his arm diagonally upward twice, palm down.
Musk has also been accused of muscling in on British politics by turning on Reform leader Nigel Farage and Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
It looked as though Musk might donate to Reform for a short minute but Farage went on to distance himself from Musk’s support of British anti-immigration and anti-Muslim activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, before Musk then tweeted that ‘the Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.’
Musk went on share a post on X from an anonymous account claiming Keir Starmer prioritised tackling anti-Muslim abuse over condemning a child-killer, with the words: ‘Prison for Starmer’.
He followed by polling his followers as to whether America ‘should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government.’
New Tesla Model Y – will it revive Tesla sales?
The new Tesla Model Y is arriving later this year and marks the first time Britain’s best-selling electric car has been given a comprehensive makeover in its lifetime.
Initially available to order now as a Launch Series production run, with European deliveries confirmed for March, with the UK expected to follow around May.
It’ll cost £60,990 but following versions will be cheaper, including a seven-seater version. A performance version is expected to arrive later in 2025.
The new Tesla Model Y Launch Series is available to order now and will cost £60,990
Across the board updates include styling features from the Cybertruck as well as improved aerodynamics and better range.
Exterior improvements, which Tesla say are for ‘exceptional aerodynamic efficiency’, are focused around the front and rear lightbars and adaptive headlights that are lifted from the Cybertruck and Cybercab.
The Y is also longer now at 4,790mm long compared to the old Y’s 4,751mm measurement.
The Launch Series Model Y 2025 will cost £60,990 and is likely to arrive in May. You can place a UK order now
The rear passengers now have their own touchscreen with Bluetooth and Wifi in the new Model Y
The Model 3 caused a big stir by going stalkless last year but the new Model Y has only followed suit by halves, ditching just one stalk and keeping the indicator stalk
Tech-wise the 2025 Model Y will come with a new front camera with its own fluid washer and preventative fogging and defrost features, as well as an new eight-inch rear touchscreen for back passengers and better Wifi throughout the car and updated microphones for phone calls.
The interior has had a comfort upgrade with redesigned seats that are now also ventilated as well as heated in the front and heated in the rear. There’s ambient lighting throughout too which has moved across from the Model 3.
But one of the best improvements enjoying all the quietness an EV offers is the 20 per cent claimed noise reduction thanks to acoustic glazing and softer fabrics on the dash and doors.
Range on the Launch Series will come with 22 extra miles of range over what customers have seen up until now – with a total of 353 miles of zero emissions driving at your disposal.
The Model Y Launch Series will only be available in Black or Quicksilver, both coming with an all-black interior but you’ll be able to get white and black interiors later on.
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