@TBPInvictus right here:
Again in December 2022, I hypothesized that Elon Musk’s antics and his newfound need to personal the Libs had been going to destroy Tesla’s enchantment to lots of his most essential consumers.
The newest knowledge confirms these sentiments had been on level.
I checked out 2020 voting knowledge and TSLA registrations in counties all through the state of New York, and theorized as follows:
Watching Musk’s ongoing antics, it has change into very clear to me that his actions are usually not solely destroying Twitter, however the collateral harm is taking Tesla down with it – a veritable twofer of ineptitude and rake-stepping. […]
My thesis is that in Musk’s newfound need to personal the Libs, he’s alienating the very individuals who have overwhelmingly been consumers of his EVs.
Contemplate who the everyday Tesla purchaser has been over the last decade earlier than he started to personal the Libs: You’d describe them as individuals who don’t assume international warming is a hoax; they’re early adopters, keen to pay extra for an EV versus an ICE automotive. Nearly as good as Tesla’s supercharging community is, it’s nowhere close to the infrastructure buildout of gasoline autos, it might probably nonetheless be inconvenient on 300+ mile journeys; though to be truthful, ICE infrastructure has had a century head begin. These people wish to go away a greater world to their youngsters; they’re realists concerning the risks offered by local weather change, they usually assume people could make a distinction through their private decisions. Oh, they usually imagine in science.
It’s not that this group is solely Democrats, however draw a Venn diagram with the oldsters I described above and Dems, and the overlap is critical.
Now comes the Wall St. Journal with the headline: Elon Musk Misplaced Democrats on Tesla When He Wanted Them Most
The proportion of Democrats shopping for Tesla autos fell by greater than 60%, based on automotive consumers surveyed in October and November by researcher Strategic Imaginative and prescient.
I’m not one who’s usually inclined to take a victory lap, however this one feels prefer it was so apparent to see coming by bringing collectively knowledge from very disparate sources and nailed the eventual final result.
In case your politics places you on the alternative facet of the NYT/Paul Krugman, how do you reconcile that now Murdoch’s WSJ has come to simply accept this relaity as properly…?
BR provides: What makes this so perplexing is what an unforced error this has been. Musk moved the whole auto business in direction of electrical, he had amassed monumental goodwill and had a built-in buyer base that was very loyal. All he needed to do was not screw it up, which — apparently — was a bridge too far.
At its peak, TSLA was price $1.29 trillion; at the moment, it’s $448.9 billion:
That could be a 65% lower in market cap + worth:
In fact, there may be way more competitors at the moment, and Tesla’s designs are getting outdated, and searching a bit stale. Their enormous decade-long software program benefit is now in all probability someplace within the 2 -4 12 months vary.
A minimum of it is going to make for an interesting HBS case examine sooner or later…
Supply:
Elon Musk Misplaced Democrats on Tesla When He Wanted Them Most
Tim Higgins
WSJ, April 20, 2024
The best way to Destroy a Model, Musk Type
Paul Krugman
NYT, Dec. 30, 2022
