- A record number of Tesla owners are reportedly trading in their vehicles for something else.
- The percent of trade-ins climbed from 0.4% to 1.4% in a year and could go higher.
- Tesla owners have faced insults and attacks in the wake of Elon Musk’s ascension to power.
Tesla owners are feeling the wrath of many people over Elon Musk’s political transformation and it appears a number of them have had enough. That’s according to new data, which has shown a surge in trade-ins.
Citing Edmunds data, Reuters is reporting that “Tesla cars from model year 2017 or newer accounted for 1.4% of all the vehicles traded in until March 15.” That’s up from 0.4% last year and marks a significant increase.
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CNBC noted this is a record level of Tesla trade-ins towards vehicles from other brands. So what’s behind the increase? There’s likely a variety of factors at play, including new competitors in the EV space.
Of course, there’s little doubt that Musk’s close association to President Trump and his status as de facto leader of the Department of Government Efficiency is also playing a role. Sheryl Crow famously ditched her Tesla and said “There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with.”
Attacks on Tesla dealerships have been grabbing headlines and U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi recently stated that “If you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.” However, Tesla owners have also been targeted by hate.
Multiple owners have reported being flipped off or sworn at, while other cases are far more serious. These involve actual vandalism, which can range from vehicles getting keyed to set on fire.
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Regardless of what’s behind the shift, Edmunds’ Jessica Caldwell said the change in “Tesla consumer sentiment could create an opportunity for legacy automakers and EV startups to gain ground.” In essence, those turned off by Musk could replace their EVs with models from competitors – which might be good news for the latter, but obviously not for Tesla which is not in the best of shapes when it comes to sales lately.
