Elon Musk’s politics have eroded Tesla’s appeal among some core buyers of electric vehicles. Some customers have started getting rid of their Teslas, and the company’s sales are down worldwide. Meanwhile, Musk is looking at new ways to expand Tesla’s business. WSJ’s Becky Peterson explains how Tesla’s fortunes are falling as Musk rises in Trump world. See the Journal live! Take our survey! Further Reading: -Tesla’s Fortunes Fall as Musk Rises in Trump World -Tesla Caps Roller-Coaster Year With Mixed Fourth-Quarter Earnings Further Listening: -Trump 2.0: The Musk-Trump Bromance -Inside USAID as Elon Musk and DOGE Ripped It Apart -Tesla's Multibillion-Dollar Pay Package for Elon Musk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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On Saturday, scores of people converged on a Tesla showroom in Lower Manhattan. Some demonstrators went inside, while others locked arms to block the door. For a while, the showroom was shut down. Demonstrations like this broke out around the country this past week. In Colorado, one Tesla showroom was hit with Molotov cocktails. In Oregon, another location was riddled with bullets.
Seems like people are finding that Tesla stores, Tesla superchargers and Teslas they see in the street are illegal. good locations to protest what's happening in the federal government. That's our colleague Becky Peterson, who covers Tesla. So across the country, we've seen protests at Tesla sales locations. We've also seen arson at superchargers and people spray-painting graffiti on random cars.
This blowback against Tesla is coming as the company's CEO, Elon Musk, has risen in the new Trump administration. And people aren't just using signs and slogans to show their disapproval. They're protesting with their wallets.
People see Tesla as a way to directly respond to what's happening in the government. Musk wasn't elected. There's not a lot of ways to hit back directly. So there's sort of a movement to try to get at him financially. Tesla's sales are declining for the first time. That's at a company that has only seen growth for the last decade.
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Tuesday, March 11th. Coming up on the show, are Elon Musk's politics getting in the way of Tesla's business?
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When Elon Musk founded Tesla, he had a mission to help stop climate change by making electric vehicles cool. Here's Musk at one of Tesla's annual meetings.
What are the things that need to be done in order to transition to a fully sustainable global economy? Which I think, you know, the sooner we do that, the better for the planet.
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