Tesla registrations — and public opinion — are in free fall
Mia Sato is platforms and communities reporter with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools.
Briefly, here’s what’s up with Tesla over the past few weeks: its stock is down more than 50 percent since December; Tesla sales in California are plummeting; Cybertruck deliveries are reportedly paused because the vehicles are falling apart; protesters are demonstrating outside Tesla showrooms across the country; and Tesla owners are selling their cars to avoid getting called Nazis.
But that’s not all. According to data from YouGov, a market research firm, the public’s impression of the company has never been worse, reaching its lowest point since YouGov began tracking Tesla in 2016. YouGov asks members of the public daily questions about Tesla to gauge overall sentiment. (Sherwood first reported the data.)
As of March 12th, the net impression for respondents across the political spectrum is -12.8. “Impression” measures whether consumers have a positive or negative impression of a given brand. The company fares even worse with liberals, with a -35.5 net impression. Moderates sit at a -9.2 net impression. Conservatives are the only group with a positive net impression of Tesla, measured at 7.5.
YouGov also asks whether respondents would consider purchasing a Tesla. According to YouGov data, around 8 percent of liberals indicated they would consider purchasing a Tesla, down from 12 percent at the beginning of 2022. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the percentage of conservatives who say they would consider buying a Tesla has increased from 6.7 percent to 8.4 percent. Even those numbers are lagging: when looking at the average response rate for all car makers, 10 percent of the general population say they would consider buying a vehicle.
There are also more indications that Tesla sales are slowing down. New registrations in the US fell 11 percent in January compared to a year prior, Automotive News reported. That follows reports of nosediving sales in several European countries, including France, Norway, Spain, and Germany.
As his company is in free fall, billionaire owner Elon Musk is attempting to cash in on his close relationship to the White House. On Tuesday, in what can only be described as an advertising event, Donald Trump turned the White House driveway into a pop-up Tesla showroom, reading from a Tesla sales pitch and vowing to purchase a vehicle. Musk’s proximity to the Trump administration follows the hundreds of millions of dollars he poured into getting Trump elected. On the same day as the Tesla stunt, The New York Times reported that Musk has indicated he wants to throw in another $100 million into other Trump groups.
