How will Tesla's sales fare if it becomes inextricably linked with MAGA?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

What if it becomes the equivalent of a MAGA hat?

[doc03]

1. MAGAts are against EV. Will they suddenly start

buying them now if Musk supports TBL.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. There are MAGAS who drive Tesla

But will Non- MAGAS buy them if Musk becomes the avatar for MAGA REPUBLICANS? He "pals around" with them on ywitter and endorsed Republicans in the midterms.

[doc03]

6. I suppose there are some. But if you mention a hybrid or an

EV they start talking about how bad they are. They say batteries cost $30k, the electric grid can't handle them, you have to stop and charge them after 200 miles, you have to pay $200 extra for registration and so on.

[mitch96]

10. I just saw a pic and review of the 2023 Toyota Prius Prime. I think this will give the T'la a run

for it's money. A plug in Hybrid with 37 mile electric range and a gas engine. Electric for around town and electric gas when you want to do a road trip. Cost's less than a T'la
The top of the line version is a whopping 220 horsepower❗️This is a rocket ship and looks way cool in my book. On top of that the Prius is one of the most reliable cars on the road per all the Moto rags. Still to expensive for me but maybe in the future..
m
https://pressroom.toyota.com/poised-for-performance-2023-toyota-prius-prime-revealed/

[tinrobot]

26. I just saw one in person - surprisingly good looking.

It will definitely fill a niche for some.

[mitch96]

43. You saw one? Where? I thought they were made of "unobtainium"

I would love to see one up close and personal. Yes very slick looking car, fast and gets 54 mpg? sign me up... I hear a year wait go get one..
My gripe is they are a bit too low to get in and out of for me and it hits curbs. This is a common complaint from Prius drivers. Too low and hit's speed bumps. A guy in california makes 1 ½ inch lift kits to raise them a bit and people who have installed them really like the inexpensive ($375) kit.

m

[tinrobot]

47. LA Auto Show

[mitch96]

49. Duh, why didn't I think of that.. Tampa Auto show is in December so I'll check it out...nt

[spooky3]

2. I think it's already happening. Stock price down another 3.39% today

And it was worth less than half of its peak value before today.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. 56% Down YTD

Still overvalued.

[sop]

4. Maybe if Tesla made one ton dually diesel trucks the MAGA mob could modify for rolling coal.

Last I heard they still believe EVs are a communist plot to take away their God-given right as Americans to burn as much fossil fuel as possible.

[WA-03 Democrat]

8. This 1000x

[tinrobot]

17. A lot of those dually drivers just want the attention a giant vehicle creates

The Cybertruck might be the EV for them. It's certainly large and obnoxious-looking.

[sop]

28. I think something like Ford's new F-150 Lightning EV will be very popular.

It's sufficiently large and obnoxious, it retains that traditional monster truck look, and with the price of diesel fuel so high a lot of guys might be persuaded to go electric. Plus they can use it as a standby generator when the power goes out.

[tinrobot]

34. I'm already seeing Hummer EVs used by attention-seekers to get their fix

I parked next to one last week. Damn, that thing is huge and obnoxious.

But at least it's not burning gasoline. Step in the right direction.

[inthewind21]

50. Thay are

already selling like crazy. You can't just go buy one. None to be found. You have to order and get in line.

[TheBlackAdder]

42. Or just a rolling coal add-on to their Model X.

.



.

[PAMod]

7. Ford appears to be poised to take over the US EV market

with GM and others right there with them. Tesla has many difficult days coming.

[hunter]

11. I figure GM or maybe a foreign auto giant will buy the wreckage of Tesla...

... and offer it up as a captive brand.

The end will come when they start an advertising campaign, "Not your father's Tesla."

Musk is going to end up isolating himself in a hotel room somewhere like Howard Hughes, sitting naked in front of a television 24/7 watching a carefully-edited-by-his-last-remaining-sycophants highlight video of his life.

[tinrobot]

25. With Tesla's stock price falling so quickly, it might be possibility.

But the buyer won't be GM. It'll be a tech company like Apple.

[Zambero]

12. Since it's not the only EV to choose from

AND most of the RW is ideologically averse to EV's to begin with, AND the left-leaning consumer market is not enamored of Musk's off-putting antics as of late, I see Tesla sales declining along with a further decline in stock value.

[Bobstandard]

13. I was this close to buy but...

Now I’m looking elsewhere, and Musks Twitter douchery tipped the scales. I’ll just wait a bit and choose from the other options. The Polestar and Lucid both look great.

[MLAA]

15. Same here.

[MichMan]

14. Very few people buy vehicles based on the political views of the CEO

What are the views of the CEO of Toyota or Honda ? What about Ford or BMW?

Does anyone even know ?

[MLAA]

16. It's the overt assholes that make me stop buying their products

Papa Johns, Goya Beans, Tesla.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

24. The sad thing is Papa Johns are franchises and a lot of Black franchise owners got hurt.

That clown is gone now. And to compare Musk to a garden variety CE0 is absurd. He's ubiquitous.

[hunter]

41. That's what happened in our city.

Our local franchise owner had a very diverse group of friendly employees. Asshole CEO "Papa John" Schnatter killed it.

Another pizza franchise soon opened nearby and is doing very good business. Like most successful corporations they are not overtly religious or political.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. Do any of them have one hundred eighteen million twitter followers?

And did any of them endorse the Republican party in the midterms on twitter to their one hundred and eighteen million followers.

[MichMan]

21. I dont have a Twitter account, so I have no idea.

Have no interest in buying an EV either.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

27. I'm not calling for a boycott

And it's more subtle than that. A lot of people won't want to buy a product that is so closely related to a political movement they find odious and dangerous. As to twitter and Musk's purchase of it it's a seminal event. A simple news search will attest to that.

[newdayneeded]

39. But, then again,

do you hear any of those guys belching crap like musk does? Or buying up social platforms? I don't.

[mitch96]

44. I remember my father would not buy a Ford as henry was an antismite and went nuts when

I wanted a VW... Old hate is hard to die.
Especially when your whole European family was killed by the nazi...
Yes he was ANTIFA during WW2.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

52. The progeny of Ford have tried to make amends. They opened a Ford plant in Israel in the 60s.

[inthewind21]

51. Very

Few Auto CEO's bring the attention to themselves Musk does. So there's that.

[sarcasmo]

18. ETTD

[Just A Box Of Rain]

20. That's already happening, don't you think?

I know people here in Los Angeles who have already sold their Teslas due to Musk's behavior, plus I've heard from a whole lot more people who've said they'd never consider the purchase one now.

A Tesla may not be quite as repugnant as a MAGA hat, but the allure of driving one of their cars as a way of demonstrating one's "values" has flipped entirely in my estimation.

Did Musk not consider what group was his core car-buying demographic?

[haele]

22. Tesla had market share because Musk bought a company that had

...got enough funding to actually begin production and was located near a bunch of wealthy high tech communities where there were plenty of well-off people willing to purchase the vehicles as luxury items.
Musk was able to leverage both the high price of Teslas and a lot of state and federal government environmental subsidies to expand the charging station infrastructure so that the idea of EVs became more approachable to the average American consumer.
Now that the bigger auto companies are pursuing EVs and improving technology and reliability, Tesla market share will begin to decrease to the point where only Tesla or Musk fan-bois will continue to think about buying those high priced, unreliable cars.

Tesla has had very strange Consumer Reports rating for EVs over the past 10 years or so - Highest Customer Satisfaction, but Lowest Vehicle Reliability. Most Tesla owners I know think nothing about the approximately twice-annual trip to the mechanic to fix a problem or recall issue. They view these "issues" as if they were the equivalent of a two-day ICE vehicle tune-up and lube trip.

Haele

[Demsrule86]

37. There are Tesla owner who are suing Musk as we speak...no one with that sort of reviews

would have such bad quality. There are tons more listed



https://www.google.com/search?q=Tesla+is+being+sued+by+owner+because+of+their+bad+quality&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1002US1002&oq=Tesla+is+being+sued+by+owner+because+of+their+bad+quality&aqs=chrome..69i57.12425j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[tinrobot]

23. Regardless of politics, I think we're already hitting peak Tesla

It used to be that Tesla had the market to themselves. Not anymore. They will move from market leader to just one of many.

I just went to the LA Auto show and there's so many good EVs from so many manufacturers. A lot of these cars were better equipped and more stylish than Teslas. The competition is getting formidable.

Tesla is already falling behind in Europe. The US will be next.

[edhopper]

29. I think they lost their

panache with "left coast liberals". Other companies are already building better EVs.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. They're ubiquitous in L A.

[edhopper]

32. Yes

but will their sales continue going forward after Musk's Twitter fiasco?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

33. Brand loyalty

It's more subtle than a boycott. I would argue Tesla= MAGA = an unpleasant association for some.

[tinrobot]

48. They're so common in LA, they've become about as interesting as a Camry.

People who like to differentiate themselves will start choosing other EVs.

[Demsrule86]

31. I personally would never buy one...or anything from Musk.

He is now like the pillow guy.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

35. LOL

[GoCubsGo]

36. It won't be due to his MAGA links.

They are already being hit by issues with cars spontaneously combusting, "driverless" crashes, and other issues. And, as others have pointed out, competition.

[brooklynite]

38. The MAGA crowd on average can't afford Tesla's.

Last edited Mon Nov 21, 2022, 01:50 PM - Edit history (1)

And I dispute the notion that they see Musk as “one of theirs”

[JI7]

46. The boat parade types can afford it but they are more into large SUVs

and opposed to non gas guzzling vehicles.

[Happy Hoosier]

40. A Tesla was on my list for consideration for my next car....

But no longer. Fuck Elon Musk.

Besides, I think there will be better alternatives by the time I'm ready to buy.

[JI7]

45. They lost me. It was probably my top choice for a EV

one day if I could save enough money. But not anymore.

[AmBlue]

53. They lost my business

When the Model 3 came out and you could only get on a waiting list, I placed a deposit. At that time, I knew nothing of Elon Musk, I just liked the car and wanted to go 100% electric.

While I waited nearly a year for that car, I learned more and read every article I could about the Tesla company. With Musk constantly in the headlines, showing himself to be an arrogant prick, I pulled my deposit. I'm sure I'm not the only one.