The Tesla chief executive’s polarizing statements have alienated some potential customers and may be partly responsible for a recent slump in sales.
Few auto executives are as closely identified with the companies they manage as Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, is. And probably none are more prolific in broadcasting their political views on social media.
But as Mr. Musk’s public persona has become increasingly right wing, Tesla appears to be paying a price in sales, especially to liberal and left-leaning customers who are much more likely to buy battery-powered cars than conservatives are, according to analysts and many car owners who responded to a questionnaire on The New York Times’s website about whether his behavior affected their views of Tesla.
His image as an erratic, impulsive manager appear to have rubbed off on the cars, raising doubts in some people’s minds about their quality and helping to explain why Tesla sales have been falling. On Tuesday, the company reported that its global sales in the second quarter fell 4.8 percent from the same period a year earlier, after an 8.5 percent drop in the first three months of the year.
“Musk is a true lightning rod,” said Ben Rose, the president of Battle Road Research, which has a generally positive view on Tesla’s stock. “There are people who swear by him and people who swear at him. No question, some of his comments are a real turnoff for some people. For a subset, enough to buy another brand.”
Tesla and a representative for the company’s board did not respond to requests for comment.
Some of the more than 7,500 people who responded to The Times’s questionnaire said they were offended by what they perceived as antisemitism from Mr. Musk, which he denies. Some were upset by the way Mr. Musk has managed Twitter, now called X, since he bought the company in 2022. He fired thousands of employees and removed guardrails on content shared on the social media platform. His increasingly friendly relations with former President Donald J. Trump and other conservative personalities were also cited as concerns. A vast majority of the readers who responded to the questionnaire were critical of Mr. Musk.
“You’re basically driving around a giant red MAGA hat,” said Aaron Shepherd, a product designer at Microsoft in Seattle who said he was planning to buy an electric Volkswagen ID.4 instead of a Tesla.