👉 Background: Tesla is the OG electric vehicle poster-child founded back in 2008, and co-founded by Elon Musk. We’ve already spoken about how Tesla has battled with a decline in sales over the past 6 moths, but it’s fair to say that we didn’t realise how bad things were looking.

‍👉 What happened: Now, Tesla has announced its lowest number of car deliveries result since 2022. But to make it even worse, Tesla also suffered a 71% drop in profits compared to last year. And while the cars haven’t materially changed, the vibe around the brand and the competition definitely has.

‍👉 What else: Tesla sales dropped 60% in Germany this January while they were down 30% in Australia. So, it’s no surprise that Elon Musk will be stepping back from the US government's DOGE. Interestingly, on the back of this news, Tesla’s share price jumped 5% - because finally he can focus on Tesla.

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‍What's the key learning?

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‍💡When a CEO is their brand, their every move can shape public perception… for better or worse.

💡In Tesla’s case, Elon Musk has ridden the highs and lows of Tesla since it launched:

• He posted that he would take Tesla private at $420 USD per share — a reference to smoking marijuana.
• He threw a sledgehammer at his Cybertruck to demonstrate its bulletproof…ness

But, with his focus on DOGE, the government department, investors have grown concerned of his lack of focus and the impact that DOGE is having on “Brand Musk” which is effectively “Brand Tesla”.

💡Since Musk joined Donald Trump in the government, Tesla’s share price has taken a near 40% hit. And these poor profit announcements aren’t building confidence in the brand either. So clearly, Musk understands its time to focus on his companies… before it’s potentially too late.