Have the wheels come off Elon Musk?
History is littered with arrogant business owners who hare overstepped the mark (and their abilities) by dabbling outside their area of special knowledge (Henry Ford was a notable example) but Musk has blazed a more spectacular trail than most: interfering in political issues all over the world – the US obviously, UK with his intervention in the “rape gangs’ scandal and Germany by seeming to back the far right AfD party in forthcoming elections.
That was via his bully pulpit X (formerly Twitter.) The main part of Musk’s vast fortune derives from Tesla and, according to the FT, Tesla sales are plummeting in Europe as buyers recoil from his EVs in protest at his politics. In Germany and France Tesla sales were down around 60% in January despite overall growth in the EV market.
Social media platform X has already taken a hammering thanks to Musk’s antics and, once again, he’s threatening to sue advertisers for abandoning the site. During the last such spat he seemed to triumph as many backtracked. This time he may not be so fortunate.
Suing German and French car buyers is, presumably, not an option for Musk. Tesla is his biggest achievement to date. He may be about to learn a painful lesson about brands.
