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Tesla Sales Plummet Amid Elon Musk Backlash

10 points by doener 2y ago

SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
Fascinating. Has there ever been a case where a CEOs actions solely were the reason for such a huge drop in sales? How unprecedented is this?
- jqpabc123 2y ago
  I'm sure there are other cases but none of this magnitude that comes to mind. But the real truth is --- the 40% percent drop in TSLA follows a 40% gain that was wasn't justified and was based solely on Musk's association with Trump. But a deeper, more fundamental truth is --- Tesla is all but dead as a consumer car company and I think Musk knows it. It is facing increasing competition at every turn without the political angle --- which only makes things worse. The company is living on "Full Self Driving" which has been promised over and over again for the last decade to the point where it has become a running joke.
  - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
    There’s this weird phenomenon where people very commonly attribute these companies’ success and accomplishments solely to Elon too which I don’t think I’ve really seen happen anywhere else except maybe Apple with Steve Jobs. He probably deserved it somewhat although he also actively dismissed the sentiment publicly. Naturally, he seemed like he was still a jerk in other ways.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Not precisely analogous, but maybe the most famous case of this sort of thing is Gerald Ratner, who caused his jewelry company's stock to fall by 80% when he publicly stated that his company's products were crap. Thus was born the phrase "doing a Ratner". This article contains other examples of CEOs devastating their businesses in similar ways. https://thehustle.co/gerald-ratners-billion-dollar-speech https://thehustle.co/gerald-ratners-billion-dollar-speech
k310 2y ago
Interesting to compare. Henry Ford's anti-semitism [0] and nazi ties (he was awarded a medal) didn't trash sales. > The Dearborn Independent, especially with its choice to re-publish The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, became a notorious source of antisemitism for its libel against Jews. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a historic hoax document first published in Russia in 1903, expressed the conviction that a global Jewish community conspires for world domination. Each week, the front page of the newspaper, under the title “The International Jew: The World’s Problems,” But there wasn't instant news, and The Dearborn Independent didn't have the visibility that a giant website has now. [0]https://www.americanjewisharchives.org/snapshots/henry-ford-and-antisemitism-the-notorious-dearborn-independent/ https://www.americanjewisharchives.org/snapshots/henry-ford-...
- GuB-42 2y ago
  But people who buy Ford just want to buy a car, they don't care about the person behind the name. The Model T sold well because it was an exceptionally good and affordable car. Same idea for Volkswagen, it is literally a nazi brand, but people who buy Volkswagen just buy cars, they don't identify with Hitler. On the other hand, Tesla marketing is entirely carried by Elon Musk. Is is notorious for not resorting to traditional advertisement. So of course, anything significant related to Elon Musk will affect Tesla, in one way or another.
Zigurd 2y ago
TSLA up, recently, amidst continuing confirmation of plummeting sales. The exhortation to employees not to sell is giving Enron.

10 points by doener 2y ago

Fascinating. Has there ever been a case where a CEOs actions solely were the reason for such a huge drop in sales? How unprecedented is this?

jqpabc123 2y ago
I'm sure there are other cases but none of this magnitude that comes to mind. But the real truth is --- the 40% percent drop in TSLA follows a 40% gain that was wasn't justified and was based solely on Musk's association with Trump. But a deeper, more fundamental truth is --- Tesla is all but dead as a consumer car company and I think Musk knows it. It is facing increasing competition at every turn without the political angle --- which only makes things worse. The company is living on "Full Self Driving" which has been promised over and over again for the last decade to the point where it has become a running joke.
- SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
  There’s this weird phenomenon where people very commonly attribute these companies’ success and accomplishments solely to Elon too which I don’t think I’ve really seen happen anywhere else except maybe Apple with Steve Jobs. He probably deserved it somewhat although he also actively dismissed the sentiment publicly. Naturally, he seemed like he was still a jerk in other ways.
JohnFen 2y ago
Not precisely analogous, but maybe the most famous case of this sort of thing is Gerald Ratner, who caused his jewelry company's stock to fall by 80% when he publicly stated that his company's products were crap. Thus was born the phrase "doing a Ratner". This article contains other examples of CEOs devastating their businesses in similar ways. https://thehustle.co/gerald-ratners-billion-dollar-speech https://thehustle.co/gerald-ratners-billion-dollar-speech

k310 2y ago

Interesting to compare. Henry Ford's anti-semitism [0] and nazi ties (he was awarded a medal) didn't trash sales. > The Dearborn Independent, especially with its choice to re-publish The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, became a notorious source of antisemitism for its libel against Jews. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a historic hoax document first published in Russia in 1903, expressed the conviction that a global Jewish community conspires for world domination. Each week, the front page of the newspaper, under the title “The International Jew: The World’s Problems,” But there wasn't instant news, and The Dearborn Independent didn't have the visibility that a giant website has now. [0]https://www.americanjewisharchives.org/snapshots/henry-ford-and-antisemitism-the-notorious-dearborn-independent/ https://www.americanjewisharchives.org/snapshots/henry-ford-...

GuB-42 2y ago
But people who buy Ford just want to buy a car, they don't care about the person behind the name. The Model T sold well because it was an exceptionally good and affordable car. Same idea for Volkswagen, it is literally a nazi brand, but people who buy Volkswagen just buy cars, they don't identify with Hitler. On the other hand, Tesla marketing is entirely carried by Elon Musk. Is is notorious for not resorting to traditional advertisement. So of course, anything significant related to Elon Musk will affect Tesla, in one way or another.

Zigurd 2y ago

TSLA up, recently, amidst continuing confirmation of plummeting sales. The exhortation to employees not to sell is giving Enron.