This was stated in a post on CNN’s website on Sunday, Ukrinform reported.

“The company blamed the weak Chinese economy (for the deterioration of dynamics), the arson of its factory in Germany and the restriction of supplies due to the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East,” the TV channel said.

It is also noted that not all problems are caused by external factors. One of them is poor work at the company itself, at a time when new competitors began to enter the market and at one point began to take away sales from Elon Musk’s company.

“Tesla has become an easy target (for rivals); it has failed to introduce new products quickly enough to attract customer interest. And its chief executive, Elon Musk, has become a person many people don’t want to associate with, even after buying a nice car.” – the publication emphasizes.

Although demand for overall sales of electric cars in the US has decreased in recent months, this is not the main reason for the decline in customer interest in Tesla. After all, several other automakers, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Rivian and Ford, reported sales increases of 50% or more last year.

“Tesla CEO Elon Musk may also create problems for the brand with his increasingly controversial public statements,” the channel said.

Thus, Musk has defended racist rhetoric and participated in anti-Semitic statements in recent years. He also bought and renamed the popular social network Twitter, which was viewed negatively by much of society, and reinstated the accounts of outspoken racists. He has also openly opposed COVID-19-related restrictions at a time when millions of deaths have occurred worldwide.

Musk was the man of the year, the richest man. However, he then used the positive attention to his person to make these statements and surround himself with negativity.

Trust in Tesla and customers’ decisions to purchase these cars have fallen sharply since the beginning of 2022, according to a survey by Danish reputation management company Caliber. Although the surveys did not reveal a clear link to specific causes, they did reveal a parallel deterioration in public opinion of Musk.

According to the results of the first quarter of this year, as reported by Ukrinform, the Tesla company recorded a significant decrease in annual sales volumes for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, the company was expected to deliver approximately 449 thousand cars in the first three months of the year. But actual deliveries were 14% lower.

Additionally, Tesla shares fell 4.9% in New York on Tuesday, the second-worst performance of the S&P 500.

Photo: Yasin Öztürk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images