Source: James D. Morgan / Getty
What does it say about a person that attaching their name to a product instantly increases the likelihood that the product’s value and saleability will plummet?
Apparently, this is a question for Elon Musk.
Not only has the platform formerly known as Twitter done virtually nothing but tank in every possible sense of the word since Phony Stark took the reins, but a recent study has shown potential Tesla buyers are shopping elsewhere for their automotive needs ever since Musk outed himself as an enthusiastic MAGA cultist who wears Donald Trump’s hind parts as a hat.
According to a new study published by Clean Technica, an independent journalism site focused on green and clean energy, researchers for JW Surety Bonds found that approximately 1 in 4 Americans “avoid Tesla’s technology due to their opinions on Elon Musk.”
Imagine that: Tesla’s latest innovation, the Cybertruck, is an $80,000 vehicle (that’s the low-end price tag) that has been rife with malfunctions and subsequent recalls and looks like it was designed by Homer Simpson for children who still participate in soap boxcar racing — but that might not be why a consumer won’t buy it. Basically, a company could be selling an authentic spaceship for cheap and folks still might not shell out a dime for it because Musk’s name is on it. That’s a damn shame, especially for a CEO who is supposedly a tech genius. (I mean, we all know Elon is a tech pro like Ronald McDonald is a fry cook, but still.)
The only thing particularly surprising about the results of JW’s study is that it’s not young people who are likely to reject a product attached to Musk, it’s also the older generations that Trump has relied on for votes.
From Clean Technica:
Perhaps surprisingly when you consider values and norms they are known for, but perhaps unsurprisingly when you consider how popular Tesla has gotten among young people, the age group most likely to avoid Tesla technology due to Elon Musk is Baby Boomers (people born people 1946 and 1964). Despite stereotypes, though, Baby Boomers came of age in the massive cultural change era of the 1960s and 1970s. They were extremely involved in busting up conservative and closed-minded cultural norms and charting a new course forward for American culture and the world. So, it’s also not that surprising that many in the generation are offended by the strong push to “go backward” and be more closed minded and deeply traditional again. That generation also appreciates more the efforts required to change society, and are more aware of what life was like before those changes.
Tesla sales declined in 2024 compared to 2023. It was the first annual decline for the company since the Model S was launched in 2012. There are many reasons for that, but Tesla definitely took a sales hit in the key market of California, as well as elsewhere, because of Elon Musk’s more and more involved and more and more extreme political engagement. There was already strong research on that as well as a wicked drop in Tesla sales in California. However, the situation surely grew as the year went on and reached new heights in November when Donald Trump was elected president instead of Kamala Harris and Elon Musk was by Trump’s side along the way, during Thanksgiving, during Christmas, and on New Year’s Eve.
It’s almost as if no one really benefits from being a Trump supporter besides the orange man himself. (Just ask Rudy Giuliani.)
