Forget broken promises or a stale model lineup, Tesla’s biggest company-threatening risk is actually Elon Musk | Opinion
The problem with having a saint-like figure as the very public face of your company – a figure many argue is at least part of the reason people buy your cars – is the risk of that person going off script, off piste and, in the words of some off his once-supporters, downright “crazy”.
The Tesla show (which is also kind of the Musk show, which is also now kind of the Trump show) is giving the world ringside seats to that very reality, with Musk’s recent antics culminating in the once-unimaginable – an alleged Nazi salute at a Republican rally.
And the impacts are being felt. Tesla’s sales declined globally for the first time in 2024. The brand’s Q4 2024 net profits fell around 70 percent compared to the same quarter in 2023. And competition from the Chinese has never been stiffer.
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So if Elon Musk actually bounces up to a microphone – looking like his hair was styled by someone who hates him – and shouts “I’m a Nazi! Nazis are cool! And Nazism is funny!” – would that be enough to make his fans flee further and sales of Teslas tank?
I mean, sure, maybe Musk wasn’t giving a Nazi salute the other day, maybe he was just indicating how far up Donald Trump’s rectum his head is, but it’s interesting to note that his gesture was welcomed by right-wing commentator Evan Kilgore with this post on X: “Did Elon Musk just Heil Hitler?…We are so back.”
But of course, some people who own a Tesla and still don’t have a bumper sticker on it pointing out that they bought it before Musk went crazy would suggest that he’s just a misunderstood genius. So, for them, let’s examine Musk’s own hilarious response to suggestions he’d performed a Nazi salute. Twice.
This was his riposte post:
“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!
“Some people will Goebbels anything down!
“Stop Gőring your enemies!
“His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler!
“Bet you did Nazi that comin’.”
As someone who occasionally tries to write funny things for a living, I used to worry about ChatGPT, but now I’ve got this guy to contend with.
It was with some trepidation that I wandered out into the internet to see how Musk’s moves – including showing up in support for the right-wing AfD party in Germany and his suggestion that Germans needed to “move beyond” their “guilt” – was playing for Tesla.
Right here in Australia, a poll on news.com.au shows that 71 per cent of people would consider selling their Tesla because of his “controversial behaviour” (that’s some pretty generous language for it).
One News user, Canna-Lucente said “I’m not considering. Already done it. Just waiting for the new one (non-Tesla) to be delivered.”
Another, RicLP, responded “I’m not going to sell mine. What’s the point? I am, however, never going to buy another. I also will not work for, buy, or use any service where he has his greasy little paws in.”
On Facebook, Tesla fans are turning on each other over whether little Elon should still be worshipped as an interplanetary God, or shunned like a loopy leper.
The reality, though, is that Tesla can, and should, survive. In many important ways, its vehicles remain ahead of their competitors, the brand’s manufacturing processes are being studied and copied by tradition car brands, including Toyota, and there’s no doubting that no brand has done more for the global shift to electric vehicles.
But whether it can survive with Elon at the helm is another question entirely.
