Tesla's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year isn't letting up.
As Bloomberg reports, the electric vehicle maker's sales numbers are still in freefall, recording the worst sales month in years in France, one of its biggest EV markets in Europe. According to French industry association Plateforme Automobile, Tesla only registered 2,395 vehicles in February, a 26 percent drop compared to the same period last year. Data from Norway, Denmark and Sweden shows even greater slides — and more hits may be incoming, because numbers from the major markets of Germany and the UK aren't in yet for February.
Overall, Tesla's sales have fallen off a cliff in Europe, dropping 45 percent in January compared to last year. Consequently, the carmaker's stock has also been taking a beating, and is down almost 23 percent over the past month (though it's still up a considerable 39 percent since September).
At the center of the EV maker's slow demise is its polarizing CEO Elon Musk, who's been busy ransacking the federal government in the United States on behalf of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
His racist leanings, which were highlighted by some horrifying commentary and two Nazi salutes during Trump's inauguration celebration, has led to a surge in anti-Musk sentiment, inspiring vandalism and protest aimed at Tesla dealerships across the globe.
Tesla owners are getting increasingly fed up, saying they're disgusted by Musk's behavior.
Musk has lost more than a whopping $100 billion in his net worth since mid-December, highlighting just how disastrous Tesla's stock sell-off has been for his bottom line.
Even Tesla investors are getting jitters from Musk's chaotic gutting of the federal government, accusing him of abandoning the carmaker.
Musk's abhorrent behavior is converging with a major supply chain shakeup, with the company setting up production lines for a new model, according to Bloomberg.
And surging competition, particularly from China, could also be hurting Tesla where it counts.
In short, even now that Musk has accumulated a terrifying amount of influence in Washington, DC, his EV maker is struggling. Whether his efforts to systemically cut down regulations that could stand in his way of turning Tesla into a robotaxi service company will pay off remains to be seen.
But if there's one certainty, it's that Tesla's customers across the world are getting fed up of his antics and don't want anything to do with him or his automaker.
More on Tesla: Tesla Investors Concerned Elon Musk Is Causing Huge Sales Drop
Share This Article