Buyers are starting to shun Tesla, analysts say. The company’s shares fell in the first three months of the year

Billionaire Elon Musk’s personality hurts Tesla car sales. Analysts expect the electric carmaker’s quarterly report, expected in the coming days, to show a weaker performance than at the end of 2023.

The image of the company’s CEO, who has started to take increasingly right-wing positions in recent years, is closely linked to that of Tesla, analysts told Reuters on Monday (April 1st). In the first three months of 2024, the company’s shares have fallen by almost a third and are priced 10% lower than the same period last year.

Tesla has fallen in the eyes of potential buyers, according to a study by market analyst Caliber, provided to the news agency. The “regard score”, a measure of appreciation for a brand, reached 31% in February, falling by almost a tenth in January alone. At the same time, the appreciation for brands such as BMW or Audi was between 44% and 47%. Tesla peaked at the end of 2021, when it had a 70% consumer approval rating.

At the level of the entire market in the United States, sales of electric vehicles would increase by 15%, while sales of the company led by Musk would increase by only 3%, according to expert estimates. New Tesla vehicle registrations in California, one of the automaker’s big markets, fell for the first time in three years in the final quarter of 2023, even as more electric vehicles were bought overall.