Elon Musk’s racism, anti-semitism and volatility are pushing away potential Tesla buyers, a new report shows. Caliber, a market research firm, says the number of people who would “consider” buying a Tesla in February was less than half the number who said the same in November 2021, and fell eight percentage points in January 2024 alone even as competitors’ “consideration scores” pushed up. More than 80% of Americans connect the Zambian emerald mining scion with the Tesla brand, and “It’s very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputational downfall,” Caliber CEO Shahar Silbershatz told Reuters. Since Musk purchased the website formerly known as Twitter about two years ago, the spread and prominence of hate speech and virulent climate denial has dramatically increased on the platform. Tesla is expected to announce weak Q1 delivery numbers early this week. (Musk: Reuters; Tesla Q1: Axios)
