- The Tesla CEO is under heavy scrutiny ever since he began openly endorsing far-right forces in Europe that harken back to its fascist past. His Roman-style salute to Trump supporters this week was only the latest controversy. “There’s been a debate in the Netherlands around Tesla shame,” said EenVandaag pollster Joyce Boverhuis.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s right-wing brand of divisive politics is pushing traditional Tesla customers away from the brand.
There was a recent survey that shed some light on the question which is probably on everyone’s mind, then, and now about how widespread this problem actually is?
A current affairs news program in the Dutch language called EenVandaag polled Tesla drivers in the country directly about how they felt about Musk. The results showed nearly every-third customer contemplated ditching the brand if they hadn’t already.
Fortune quotes “There’s been a debate in the Netherlands around Tesla shame,” pollster and presenter Joyce Boverhuis. “But it’s one thing just to be embarrassed by Musk. It’s another thing entirely when you take the next step and think about actually selling it.”
432 customers responded on the brand, and 31% said they had either gotten rid of their Tesla or were planning to. Asked whether they were proud to drive a Tesla, every second owner replied ‘no’, with another 10% replying they didn’t know.
Though the sample size isn’t large enough to be conclusive, it is the first real data point to emerge since Musk began openly endorsing Europe’s far right political agenda. The continent represents Tesla’s biggest headache worldwide after volumes dropped 11% last year to 327,000 vehicles, mainly due to the loss of state subsidies in key markets like Germany.
Boverhuis from EenVandaag is of the view that the results unsurprisingly tended to reflect their political leanings with fewer center-right voters looking to sell their Teslas, but the responses skewed both ways. Read more
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