The great thing about this country is you can have your own views — whatever they are — and tell anyone you want about those views. You can even have a blog where people can read those opinions, even if they disagree (not everyone, it seems, agrees with me that Škoda is VW’s best brand but I will not be silenced). Where it gets muddled is when it comes to the consequences of those opinions and who, or what, is allowed to experience them.
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has views. A lot of them. Maybe you agree with all of them, maybe you find them odious, or maybe you don’t care. As Tesla sales slow it’s easy to point fingers at infrastructure, or interest rates, or growing competition. A group of analysts, backed by consumer sentiment data, are pointing the finger at an increasingly unpopular Elon Musk.
Do you know who the head of China’s biggest automaker is? It’s SAIC Motor Corp’s Wang Xiaoqiu. Do you know Wang Xiaoqiu’s politics? Probably not, although you might think an executive in a Chinese state-owned company is really only allowed to have one type of politics so it’s not a difficult guess. The company is having a rough go of it lately amidst a brutal Chinese EV price war and economic uncertainty. The solution? Try to force out a bunch of employees.
Ford wants to make EVs profitable, but first it needs to get rid of some old models. If you want more proof that EVs have a pricing issue, Ford’s sudden price drop for the Mach-E seems to have moved the needle on the company’s EV sales.
And, finally, the EPA has followed its softening of light vehicle emissions regulations with regulations for big trucks that still seem like a big swing.
‘Consideration’ Of Tesla Drops To 31% As It’s ‘Very Likely’ Musk Is Contributing To Tesla Reputation Hit
Free speech is often misunderstood. As an enumerated right in the U.S. Constitution, i.e. one that’s specifically called out, the government is specifically restricted from abridging it in most cases. The key word there is “government.”
Some people, especially powerful people, tend to be surprised when, in a free country, they suffer consequences for what they say. But that’s how freedom of speech is supposed to work.
If I call yo mama fat, it is my legal right to do so. If you respond by punching me in the face I could maybe appeal to the authorities for help, but you could also argue I had it coming.
This tweet pretty much sums it up:
Me sowing: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!!
Me reaping: Well this fucking sucks. What the fuck.
— The Golden Sir (@screaminbutcalm) March 12, 2019
Tesla CEO Elon Musk managed to grow to almost hero status for a large portion of the population, inspiring Robert Downey Jr’s portrayal of Tony Stark, dating actresses, building rockets, and saving the world.
And then Musk bought Twitter, called it X, and subjected everyone to his increasingly angry-divorced-dad skeptic energy. Even worse, the self-created echo chamber only seems to encourage him to share more.
That’s his right and he’s still one of the richest men in the world and is head of the most valuable car company (by market cap) in the world.
As soon as tomorrow we’re likely to get an earnings report from Tesla and it should show if sales growth has continued to slow, which could see Tesla’s share price drop even further if not matched by margin improvements or some other good sign. There will be finger-pointing.
Up first is a big story from Reuters that heavily implies some consumers don’t love hearing Elon Musk imply that the government is bringing in violent undocumented immigrants so they can gain votes, as one example, or that planes could be less safe because airlines/aviation companies are putting effort into hiring people of color and women to be pilots, which is a thing he seems to believe.
The ranks of would-be Tesla buyers in the United States are shrinking, according to a survey by market intelligence firm Caliber, which attributed the drop in part to CEO Elon Musk’s polarizing persona.
[…]
Caliber’s “consideration score” for Tesla, provided exclusively to Reuters, fell to 31% in February, less than half its high of 70% in November 2021 when it started tracking consumer interest in the brand.
But that’s Musk. Certainly, people can’t connect Musk and Tesla. One is a car company and Musk is just one person. Well…
“It’s very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputational downfall,” Caliber CEO Shahar Silbershatz told Reuters, saying his company’s survey shows 83% of Americans connect Musk with Tesla.
Reuters spoke to five marketing, polling and car experts who said controversies surrounding Musk’s increasingly right-wing politics and public statements are weighing on Tesla’s brand and demand.
Until there are studies that show explicitly the connection between people buying something else there’s a little bit of inference here, but it’s a reasonable inference, especially now that a survey cited in the article shows more people have an unfavorable view of Musk than either a neutral or favorable view. There’s a known partisan bias when it comes to views on buying EVs and it doesn’t favor Musk at the moment.
I still think that, ultimately, most people do not make major purchasing decisions based on politics. I have two very liberal friends who despise Elon Musk and ended up with a Model Y because it was just the best deal.
But with increasing competition and higher net costs due to interest rates, plus an increase in Model Y prices as of today, it’s certainly not helping.
SAIC To Put Its Workers In ‘Uncomfortable Positions’
SAIC Motor Corp. is China’s largest automaker, with tie-ups to both GM (SAIC-GM-Wuling) and Volkswagen (SAIC-VW). The company has long benefited from support from the Chinese government, which means that it hasn’t exactly been the first company to start laying off its workers.
SAIC has found itself facing sliding sales and profits as it has to battle with a product mix that isn’t as EV-focused and appealing as what BYD is offering while in the midst of a price war with upstarts like Xiaomi.
Because it seemingly doesn’t want to (or can’t) just fire people, there’s another big Reuters report today that, based on a number of sources, says the company is instead looking for cause to get people to quit.
From the article:
One of the sources said most of the reductions at SAIC-VW would come through payouts offered to resigning low performers.
SAIC rates workers on a scale from A to D. In the past, the company has rarely handed out C or D ratings, the two sources said. For 2023, however, about 10% of SAIC-VW employees received the lower ratings, one of the people said.
D-rated employees are being offered payouts to quit, and C-rated workers are being put in “uncomfortable positions” intended to encourage resignations, the source said.
Uncomfortable positions? Like in the back of an SAIC-Volkswagen? Of course, SAIC has denied this report, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
Mustang Mach-E Sales Surging After Price Cut
Did it work? Yeah, big time according to analytics firm Cloud Theory. From Automotive News‘s article on the data:
“Across the board, there’s a need for, and a direction toward, a reduction in pricing at a time where that doesn’t make a lot of financial sense for the OEMs,” Rick Wainschel, vice president of data and analytics at Cloud Theory, told Automotive News. “I think Ford had to do what they did; they’re really in a bit of a bind to clear out those Mach-E’s. It was a necessary evil, in a way. But it worked.”
Mustang Mach-E sales fell by more than half in January, when the crossover lost eligibility for a $3,750 federal tax credit as the Biden administration tightened sourcing rules. But since Ford announced the discounts in late February, Cloud Theory said, movement of Mach-E inventory has nearly tripled, based on its daily monitoring of dealership data. It said inventory has declined 9 percent.
“We saw an immediate bump,” Wainschel said. “It started to really catch fire over the last couple of weeks in particular.”
It’s almost as if the EVs are too expensive. Wow. Crazy. Wild thought.
EPA Makes Strict Standards For Buses And Big Trucks
The EPA’s new emissions calculations place some fairly strict standards on the makers of light passenger vehicles, but they’re not as stringent as originally proposed. The response from automakers has been fairly muted.
On Friday, the EPA unrolled its standards for big trucks and buses and the rules are pretty strict.
The new rules, which take effect for model years 2027 through 2032, will avoid up to 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades and provide $13 billion in net benefits in the form of fewer hospital visits, lost work days and deaths, the EPA said. The new standards will especially benefit an estimated 72 million people in the United States who live near freight routes used by trucks and other heavy vehicles and bear a disproportionate burden of dangerous air pollution, the agency said.
Unlike automakers, the groups representing the trucking industry have not reacted quite so calmly.
Here’s what the American Trucking Association said in response:
“ATA opposes this rule in its current form because the post-2030 targets remain entirely unachievable given the current state of zero-emission technology, the lack of charging infrastructure and restrictions on the power grid,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “Given the wide range of operations required of our industry to keep the economy running, a successful emission regulation must be technology neutral and cannot be one-size-fits-all. Any regulation that fails to account for the operational realities of trucking will set the industry and America’s supply chain up for failure.”
While EPA’s final rule includes lower zero-emission vehicle rates for model years 2027-2029, ATA says forced zero-emission vehicle penetration rates in the later years will drive only battery-electric and hydrogen investment, limiting fleets’ choices with early-stage technology that is still unproven.
“The trucking industry is fully committed to the road to zero emissions, but the path to get there must be paved with commonsense,” Spear said. “While we are disappointed with today’s rule, we will continue to work with EPA to address its shortcomings and advance emission-reduction targets and timelines that are both realistic and durable.”
I have to say, “the path to get there must be paved with commonsense” is a good line.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
The new Waxahatchee album is out and it’s so good. Go listen to it. The best country/folk music right now isn’t coming out of Nashville is all I’ll say.
The Big Question
Without getting into your specific politics, on a scale of 1-10 where 1 = WHO CARES and 10 = I CARE VERY MUCH how much does politics influence your consumption?
Have you said something incredibly shitty, and then been sent to prison? No?
This is freedom of speech.
Have you said something incredibly shitty, and now a whole lot of people dislike you because you were acting like an asshole? Yes?
These are the consequences of free speech.
I don’t always mix my purchasing decisions with politics; it’s almost impossible to keep track of all the awful things any particular company or it’s executives could be involved in. But if you actively remind me that my money is likely going to be used to lobby against things I believe in? I’m probably going to find another business that isn’t actively trying to antagonize me. There’s a lot of reasons why I wouldn’t buy a Tesla, but Elon sure as hell doesn’t help.
As for the scale, 7/10.
On the note of heavy truck emissions, a couple years ago I moved from Missouri to California and I didn’t realize how nice I was to not be subjected to older heavy diesel fumes. Earlier this year I took a trip to somewhere that allows old heavy trucks on the road and when one passed me while walking it sent me into a coughing fit!
I wonder how much turnover in the general trucking fleet happens each year. I can’t imagine its that much. If these rules hold, buy Volvo Trucks, International and Freightliner stock in 2025 and 2026.
As someone in the industry, the big carriers have an average fleet age of 5-7 years. But as the trucks age out, they’re sold, not scrapped, so their lifespan goes on with smaller carriers or independents.
I wouldn’t buy a Tesla mainly because their ‘ultra-minimalist’ interiors are horrible, and thankfully other makes are starting to wake up and move away from emulating that.
As for Elon, he’s a putz, the main issue is he’s got a huge megaphone to let everyone know how big a putz he is. Consider most automotive executives, or even just 7 figure CEO types, do they live in the real world? Behind closed doors I’m sure there’s plenty they say that they wouldn’t want made public, but they’re at least smart enough not to write it in permanent electronic form for everyone to see.
There’s enough other EVs on the market that I’ll stay away from Tesla just because of the Musk factor.
Remember when Elon Musk, as a joke to impress his girlfriend, Tweeted out that he had a deal to take his very valuable public company private at $420/share, and named the investment firm backing it even though no such deal had even been discussed, let alone made? He was forced to step down as chairman, but allowed to remain as CEO because, allegedly, it would be too damaging to Tesla financially and reputationally to be totally deprived of his leadership. How the turntables
I’m probably a 5 or something like that. I do my best to be informed and to contribute to efforts to save the world, but I’ve also got a life to live and the realities that come with that. I don’t like Teslas that much anyway (the minimalist interior/giant screen thing just isn’t for me), but Musk has definitely moved me to the camp of “wouldn’t consider one.”
I find nothing appealing about Teslas as automobiles, so I’m glad Elon being a massive POS doesn’t put me in a position to try and reconcile wanting one.
10/10 if you advertise it. 1/10 if you don’t.
I don’t really care too much who I buy from. But, I 100% DO care to NOT support Trump in ANY WAY POSSIBLE. I have ZERO issues with Republicans. BUT, if you are going to advertise that you are republican, and I have a choice, I will choose another option. If you advertise that you support Trump, I will NOT buy your product, unless I have zero choice (and even then I may just not choose at all and suffer).
Example, Yuengling beer supported Trump in 2016. This was shortly after I discovered their beer and was buying it regularly. I will never buy it or drink it again.
Example; there is a dude who sells lawnmowers and snowblowers he repairs and sells. He has a big Trump sign in his front yard. Absent that sign, I’d be more than happy to buy something from him.
CCDL (Connecticut Citizen Defense League, aka gun owners); people put these stickers on their cars. I will avoid anyone with one of those stickers like it is the plague.
TLDR; if you advertise your opinions, don’t get upset if your customers don’t agree and take their business elsewhere.
This guy/gal gets it.
I’d like to add a rider to your bill:
Holding forth on right wing (honestly, any, but it has always been right wing in my experience) politics or just expecting that I’m going to agree because I’m already underway buying a hot dog/leaf blower/car is a sure way I don’t come back.
I’m 100% with you on this but on the other side of the hypercube. I used to live in a deep blue paradise (the Boston inner metro) during the Trump term as a general conservative/liberatarian and it became a very toxic place quickly for anyone who wasn’t willing to openly toe the progressive narrative and line. So, it was kind of hard to avoid businesses which weren’t plastered in the usual progressive/leftist/feminist garb. I left the place because it just got too tiring to deal with feeling like you have to stand up and fight all the time.
These days I actively try to patronize small conservative-leaning businesses, whether from the visual shibboleths on the door or because I was recommended the place, or know the owners/customers. This means I practically never go intown, or if I do it’s a hold my breath and get out quickly kind of affair.
“I left the place because it just got too tiring to deal with feeling like you have to stand up and fight all the time.”
This is hilarious. No wonder conservatives carry guns. They’re threatened by rainbow stickers and tote bags.
Eh, disagree – you had to have been there. The Boston inner metro is school heavy, so people feel the need to wear their (generally liberal) politics on their sleeve. There was, and likely is with the current state of geopolitics, a set of shibboleths used to communicate your support of certain viewpoints and policies. If you don’t respond in a way considered acceptable, you can feel the air in the room change.
It’s part of the whole narrative about virtue signalling and how it is or isn’t an effective tool of policymaking that goes around the media once in a while. It’s a very different, albeit related, vibe from “Man has to pack heat everywhere because he thinks thugs will jump him around every corner”.
The same effect is very real in reverse if you’re a social progressive, LGBT+ or minority in some parts of the country. Speak up and get cut down.
This. I have an auto body shop 2 blocks from my house that had a Trump banner facing a busy road for months after the 2021 insurrection. I noticed that during that time the amount of cars that were brought there was dwindling to almost nothing. It brought me joy that he fucked around and found out.
Since he took the banner down a decent amount of his business has come back but I remember and recently had to choose a body shop and his wasn’t even a consideration. I’m pretty sure the body shop I brought it to has similar republican leanings but they aren’t plastering it everywhere so they got the business.
I literally cannot imagine hating any person as much as you seem to hate Donald Trump. I have better things to do than drive to a different store because the owner of that store apparently likes somebody that I don’t like.
I know someone who was raped in Trump tower, and left naked with their clothes in hand wearing only a jacket. When they were screaming for help, the police did not arrive, and instead the staff ran a vacuum cleaner in the hallway. This is one floor below Trumps apartment.
The policy does not fall far from the tree, my friend. I am fully justified in my hatred.
You can hate Trump all you want, I don’t care. There are some people I don’t like too. But I honestly do not care if somebody running a lawnmower repair service or a body shop likes that person. Trump might be a terrible person, but that doesn’t mean neighborhood lawnmower guy is.
But it does mean that they have incredibly awful judgement, and it may leak into things that I care about.
Like lawnmower repair? I’m sorry, that argument was wack.
I wouldn’t trust a business run by someone who idolizes a lifelong crook like Trump.
+1
What does NYC policy have to do with the behavior of people in a private condo building?
Someone has to call them. The cops can’t hear someone screaming for help in a building.
My interpretation was that the person was screaming for help, nobody helped, and Trump’s staff turned on a vacuum to drown out the screams so Trump wouldn’t hear it.
Bingo. They absolutely heard the screams for help. The policy when you hear someone screaming for help is to run the vacuum in the hallway. This policy is created by the owner of the building. There is absolutely no way to justify the actions of the building owner. Remember, this is the same person who said he could “shoot someone on the street and get away with it”.
I hate two people in this world, and he is one of them. PTSD has basically ruined this persons life. Imagine if this happened to you, and then you had to see that name repeated multiple times a day every day since 2015?
I cannot imagine being OK with someone who tried to incite an insurrection when they lost an election. I can accept Trump support before January 6th, but not now.
I appreciate few things quite as much as I appreciate living in a free democratic society, and therefore will take measures necessary to protect that.
Keeping money out of Trump supporters’ hands is a trivial measure compared to what I am actually willing to do to defend democracy.
And maybe the hundreds of thousands of dead people who listened to the Trump Covid takes should enter the room. Cause they defiantly ignored common sense, and we see how well that take worked…
But let’s forget the recent past and put the fool back in office. It worked out so well the first time. Right?
Canada looks better everyday vs living under the thumb of a deranged fool.
As a relocated Canadian, the fool just comes in a different wrapping.
We truly are living in an insane time.
Helps if you can avoid the wingnuttiest provinces. But yes, much like the UK the American fascist money has been sowing seeds of lunacy in Canada.
Yeah all that Jewish money. How awful for you.
I think one of the biggest issues with the Trump banners, is that if someone is such a rabid Trump fan that they’re flying more flags than a North Korean military procession, well, I think I know where my money is likely going after the check has been cashed.
I certainly know plenty of people who are Trump supporters who aren’t bad people, even though they confuse me greatly. But when you choose to fly the banners, you’re definitely opting for the “fuck around and find out” option. And honestly, when I see the Trump flag, I get the impression that it’s out there to deter me on purpose. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was often by design.
Where do you think your money is going after the check is cashed? To some flag company to buy more Trump banners?
If you’re implying that it will be a donation to a trump campaign, well, maybe. How much do people make donations like that anyways?
My wife’s grandmother sent multiple entire social security checks to the Trump campaign. Which sent the family into an absolute panic.
Soooo, yeah when you see the sort of enthusiasm that would drive someone to buy multiple massive flags, well, you’d be surprised how far those people are willing to take their support.
Apathy ultimately leads to oppression. People’s tolerance of extreme opinions allowed Nazis, Atlantic slave trade etc. If you truly believe the man represents an internal threat, then it’s easier to say “Fuck that guy, and anyone who supports him” and fight them with your wallet, then let’s say other opinions.
I just don’t understand why “fuck that guy” necessarily extends to “anyone who likes him”.
Because they are at best complacent, at worst directly involved. This gets into “some good Nazis” argument. There might be, but they shouldn’t be Nazis and it’s easier for me to not deal with any of them.
Actually, it’s easier for you to not care and do business exactly the same regardless of the political leanings of anybody.
I’m sure a few German people thought the same thing after the Beer Hall Putsch. When you find the house slightly on fire, it is in fact easier to ignore it and carry on. But then your house burns down, and building a new house is actually a lot harder then being proactive in first place.
Personally, I believe Tesla is responsible for the ridiculous industry fad for giving up on ergonomic design, analog gauges, and tactile buttons in favor of a big stupid TV you have to play with while you’re driving at 70 mph.
Yeah, Elon sucks donkey biscuits, but he’s only my second or third reason for never wanting a Tesla, after their garbage UX decisions and horrible treatment of workers.
Why couldn’t we have gotten a good company that wanted to lead the EV revolution?
Well when you’re in a Tesla, it’s driving for you at 70 mph. /s
It’s only to reduce cost, that’s it. It’s the ONLY reason the industry is moving in that direction, ONLY. No one thinks it’s a better solution that I can find.
“Why couldn’t we have gotten a good company that wanted to lead the EV revolution?”
Apple would probably be 100% knob-free glass-fondling, so they wouldn’t help. Not that you mentioned them. Also they’re notably less good these days.
Someone needs to hire Teenage Engineering to do a car dashboard with lots of buttons and knobs.
We have Honda and Toyota. I know you said EV, but that avenue has proven to be unsupportable and expensive.
I’m in the market for a fun 4 seater EV to replace my BMW i3 within the next 6 months. Prior to Elon’s Twitter takeover shenanigans, the Tesla model 3 (new or used) was high on my list. Now no Tesla is in my list, even with the recent price drops. It’s all because of Elon. I’ll probably get Volvo EX30 although considering a stretch to a Ioniq 5 N or perhaps Polestar 2.
Get a Vanderhall Brawley and put a street kit on it. Fun, 4 seater, no one else is going to be driving one.
Lightly used Polestar2 AWD with the pro/plus package. You’ll giggle all day long. Performance is ok, but it’s a lot for not a lot of extras.
I used to be certain I would own a Tesla. But Elon turned me, my wife, and several of our friends off of the idea. Part of it is his polarizing opinions, but a large part is also his stupid product ideas that he forces the company to do.
Either way, Elon is why I no longer want a Tesla.
I started buying TSLA in 2013. I sold it all last year. Every time he tweeted stupid crap, the price would go lower. If he had stayed quiet I would have an additional $15,000, but nope, he can’t stop trolling. F that guy.
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism but that doesn’t mean I have to go scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to what I buy. Musk is actively damaging the Tesla brand the tide is slowly turning on X as well. Soon it will be viewed the same as if someone told you they had an account on Gab/Parler/Truth Social.
I’m pretty sure buying food so you don’t starve to death is perfectly ethical consumption.
Unless you’re buying a chicken sandwich from a company that hates gay people, or a chocolate bar from a company that says water isn’t a human right, or a banana from a company that massacred striking workers, or…
Haven’t heard about the banana or the chocolate one. Who is the chocolate company?
Nestle is notorious for being awful, they’ve got their own Wikipedia article documenting their crimes against humanity.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_of_Nestl%C3%A9
The United Fruit Company is where we get the phrase “banana republic.” You might know them now as Chiquita.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_Massacre
Exploitation is a necessary component of capitalism, that’s where the surplus value is derived from. Meat companies like Tyson are employing preteen immigrants in their slaughterhouses, they’re stuffing chickens into pens the size of shoeboxes, and they’re introducing drug resistant diseases to the food supply chain thanks to rampant antibiotic overuse. Veggies are picked by laborers earning pennies and we’re rolling back even the most modest heat protections so they can die of heat stroke just to squeeze an extra buck of profitability. Manufacturers of ag equipment like John Deere are making it illegal for farmers to repair their tractors, and companies like Monsanto and Bayer are making it illegal to plant “proprietary” seeds in fields without paying exorbitant licensing agreements.
This is what is meant by “no ethical consumption under capitalism.” Someone is doing something shitty to someone else no matter where you look, and you have to participate without even getting a choice. There are no other options.
Anecdotal, but I recently heard someone tell me “I’m thinking about buying a Mach-E. I think they’re ugly compared to a Model 3, but I’m not buying a Tesla until Musk goes away.” This was from someone who is probably the picture of political and social neutrality in almost every way. They don’t do social media, have never been on Twitter, and likely would have still had a favorable opinion of Musk if he kept his crazy more contained. When people that disconnected and unaffiliated are getting annoyed by someone, that’s probably past the point of damage control needing to be carried out on the part of Tesla.
I will absolutely not consider a Tesla solely because of Musk (and the vocal Tesla heads). I would much rather buy a Kia EV6 or a Mach E. Even if Musk is ousted, for me personally it will take a long time before Tesla can recover from the reputational harm he’s done in the past 12 or so months.
ETA: As someone else said no corporation is really ethical BUT at least their CEOs didn’t buy (and ruin) a whole platform to broadcast what shitbags they are. (there is one very specific counter example to this but I wouldn’t buy anything from them anyway)
I’d say 8 out of 10 for me, but mostly because the bar has been lowered so very far these days. Vaccines didn’t used to be controversial, and I refuse to associate with people who are openly anti medical science. Same with anyone who advocates for theocratic moral laws. So, I have no interest in a Tesla, a MyPillow, or Chick-fil-a.
The big irony to me on the vaccine thing is, getting the vaccines developed faster than anyone thought it could be done at the time is the one thing I give the Trump administration credit on. At the time he made the announcements during the pandemic that they were going to have vaccines by the end of the year, I distinctly remember all of the analysts calling BS on the announcement. Of course, there was a well–documented history of BS coming from him at that point so I guess I understand the analysis.
But the fact that it is almost entirely his supporters who are anti–vaccine and they still support him is a curious detail in all this to me.
That whole situation makes me laugh. He was trying his best to take credit for the life saving vaccine, but then all of his supporters started to conspiracy theory it. Good stuff!
Ironic that the same scientists he scoffed at may or may not have had a hand in the creation of the vaccines. America, what a country!
This was truly, the most bizarre thing about the Trump presidency and the pandemic.
He put literally all his eggs into the vaccine basket, and honestly, was probably one of the only things I think was a semi-rational decision that was made. And then his base outright rejected it. Oh the irony.
It’s hard to fix stupid. I see dead people.
A company has to go well out of its way for their politics to be a significant issue for me. And I’m admittedly not strict about it. I’d rather buy from Lowes, but Home Depot is significantly more convenient. That said I’m usually buying cheap shit for little projects and if I were making an expensive purchase I’d make the small effort to go to Lowes.
Ironic that the ads I’m being served on this page are for Nike, because the first thing that comes to mind reading the article is Michael Jordan’s (in)famous 1990s statement that “Republicans buy sneakers too”. He took a lot of flak for it at the time, but as a business decision it made a ton of sense. Why risk antagonizing half of your potential customers? In the case of Musk, it’s worse, because liberals are the ones who typically lean toward EVs anyways.
As for me, I will sometimes buy or not based on how I feel about the companies in question or how they may have treated me in the past, but I can’t remember ever taking any executive’s personal behavior or views into account when making a purchasing decision. The world is too complex a place to sort out who is “good” or “bad” or “cancelled” right now.
This is the thing about Musk that perplexes me so much. His views, which are pretty extreme even by Trump era Republican standards, are off putting to the main people that could be long term Tesla customers. Part of the Republican 2024 platform (if you can even call it that right now) is making EVs the latest red meat to be tossed into the culture war coliseum. The same boogeyman rhetoric we’ve seen Trump and his acolytes use over and over again to create an “other” for their base to direct their grievances towards is just getting repackaged for EVs.
Even though the conservative edgelord demographic likes Musk, I’d imagine the vast majority of the Fox News crowd is already convinced EV=a threat to their existence and will shun Teslas. Right now I don’t think their market share is sustainable, and by most metrics it isn’t….and they’re about to be in even more trouble because the clout chasing crowd will be moving on from Teslas since they’re not exclusive anymore.
You’d think that Musk would realize this and just shut up. I mean…I’ve worked at some places I didn’t necessarily see eye to eye with in some areas over the years and I more or less just kept my differences to myself while on the clock because I needed the income and didn’t have a ton of options when my resume was still light.
But he can’t. He’s literally incapable of keeping things to himself because he’s a doofus who thinks he’s a whole hell of a lot smarter than he is. I’ve said all along that he’s basically the tech equivalent of Trump….aka someone who was born on third, got walked to home, and convinced themselves they’d hit a home run. People used to tell me that was an idiotic take. These days they’re telling me that they totally hated Musk all along and don’t remember the fact that I said this five years ago….
“You’d think that Musk would realize this and just shut up”
Narcissists never do.
Our corporate counsel loves sharing this long-time standard lawyer advice:
Short form: shut up
Long form: shut the **** up
Most of us would benefit from it.
I’m not nearly as hard on Musk personally as you or seemingly most of the people here.
I never bought into the ridiculous Tony Stark image, but I do think the guy is very intelligent, works hard, and his success is not accidental.
I also don’t think his recent evolution is too complex. Honestly it’s pretty well explained by Big Tech and the Democrats falling out with each other over a number of things since 2017 (social justice policies, Covid lockdowns, increased Congressional scrutiny of tech companies, increased rhetoric of “billionaires” being bad guys, etc).
Ultimately, it was always a weird quirk of the 90s-10s that ultra-rich tech guys leaned left IMO. Their natural home has always been with the Republicans, and in that sense, “rich white man spouts conservative talking points” is not a weird headline in the least. It just feels that way because we saw the tech CEOs as different somehow.
All of that said, I strongly feel it’s in his own self-interest to STFU, if only to increase Tesla sales. But as you say, that doesn’t seem likely.
It’s really a confluence of different circumstances that makes him this way though.
First, he’s pretty much the richest guy in the world, depending on what the stocks are doing each day. So, he really has to live in his bubble world because the average person can’t really conceive of how much he has or is worth. So he can afford to just keep pissing everyone off if he wants. I hate it for his employees though.
Then, he backed himself into a corner on the whole Twitter fiasco. He owns this platform outright and so can’t be banned and is likely bitter he has it in the first place. It’s one of the few times he’s had to pay the consequences for his actions and in my humble opinion, he’s lashing out and in some way he thinks this is going to get back at the people who forced him to spend ~$45B to buy it.
I have no knowledge of this but going by things he said early in the Tesla days, I do actually think he believes the EV tech is superior to ICE tech for cars. So many people started worshiping him for that in the early days, for bringing the magic, electric wagons to the masses that he definitely developed a messiah complex.
So you have the echo chamber of adoration, combined with unlimited resources (the ultimate in “go–to–hell money”) and a platform that only he controls.
If anything he probably does show some constraint given the totality of the situation he’s in. I honestly don’t know that I would do better in the same set of circumstances. I’d probably piss off more people because I would complain too much about both sides of the political aisle.
I think this is right, and explains a lot of the petty decisions, like having Tesla respond to press inquiries with poop emojis and taking away the blue checks from celebrities.
The conservative political beliefs I don’t think require much explanation, and are not limited to him. Plenty of CEOs and rich tech guys have followed an arc like: When the Democrats are advocating for stuff like gay marriage, weed legalization, and abortion rights that don’t cost you anything personally, it’s easy to present yourself as a Democrat, or at least politically neutral. When it’s stuff like DEI, lockdowns, antitrust legislation targeting your companies, and confiscatory taxation that hit you in the bottom line, it’s a lot harder to maintain the façade.
Yes, this is what’s weird, he’s pushing away the group that’s most inclined to support him, and not bringing in anyone new to replace them.
Conservatives will listen to Musk’s rants and go “oh, well, he’s certainly right about that, but I’m still not going to be caught dead in an electric car” or “well, I like what he said on that, but he’s still in business with the CCP”, so if this is some grand strategy to sell Teslas to right wingers, it’s not going to work at all.
And I don’t think it is a grand strategy, because I don’t think Musk is self aware enough to formulate that sort of thing. He’s just being himself and spitting out whatever’s in his head at the moment without regard for consequences
Show Low, huh? Have you ever gone to the excellent Snowflake Pioneers Day car show?
Wait, so there’s another Trump store besides the famous one in Show Low Arizona?
It would be nice if Tesla could be sort of a foil to this attempted politicization of EVs. They make “good” cars and their CEO appeals to the right, maybe it will make this particular issue less of a thing politically. At least that’s my hope, for the good of the planet etc.
I agree with your “too complex” statement about the world. My version of Musk affecting a Tesla decision ties back to your “treated me in the past” more. I basically blame Tesla for Musk, so in my head they have “treated me badly”, because I find the man particularly annoying. But overall, I think the only other real time this has occurred was with Ben and Jerry’s. When they decided they were a political organization, I decided cheap ice cream was fine with me.
I am absolutely not saying that I’m cool with anything Musk does. I am, in fact, going to restate that I think he’s a deplorable shithead and well documented sexist, racist, and transphobe with fascist leanings. I personally will not consider a Tesla until:
1). He is ousted as CEO
And
2). They make their interiors feel less like a Scandinavian prison/corporate office park from the early 2000s. Anyway, how about those TPS reports?
…with that out of the way, making purchasing decisions based on political leanings is simply damage control, or harm reduction if you’d rather. At the end of the day no corporation is ethical. Every single one of them has a wide array of grotesque skeletons in their closets. You can find a reason to be repulsed by literally any corporation under capitalism if you have five minutes and access to Google.
I’m all for letting your money do the talking and try my best to make my own financial choices accordingly…but let’s be real here, none of the entities were paying are the good guys. Period. Every single corporation you give money too is invested in maintaining the status quo and all of the evils that come with it. We are nothing but a number to them.
So…yeah. It makes a wee difference, but it takes a whole hell of a lot of us acting in unison to really make any of these shitheads sweat.
I used to think this way, but but my position has evolved some. It’s easy to slip into thinking of your money as a reward, since getting money feels like a reward to most of us. It’s a little different when you think of it as actively withholding money from those you disfavor, and whose current behavior you are trying to influence. Companies are absolutely voracious, and the knock-on effects of unmet targets and such can be pretty large at many levels of their structure. You aren’t going to bankrupt a major corporation without a very potent boycott, but the shift in habits of a much smaller number of customers (especially if they were good customers, before), can influence things significantly. In a tightly competitive market, being able to meet payroll, attract talent, keep your infrastructure less-dire than my local Stellantis dealer, are critical elements of staying out of a financial death-spiral. One person who might have spent $80K at a business who now doesn’t make that purchase takes a significant bite out of that system. You won’t feel the frisson of righteous cause-and-effect by not shopping someplace and seeing their pain, but the pain is real. Basically, even 5% of customers changing their purchasing behavior based on current good behavior can make a pretty significant difference because any company will do basically anything to get that 5% of customers, especially if they’re desirable customers. It’s a shitty game, but it’s the game we have and we’re basically obligated to play.
That’s unfair. Scandinavian prisons were using much higher quality materials well before the early 2000s.
I’d say 9 out of 10 in a practical matter.
Security backdoors, policies actively against their consumer base, etc. The only reason it isn’t 10/10 is sometimes your only option if you want to buy X thing is to do so from a company and or country you wouldn’t normally buy something from.
I try not to make definitive statements about the future, but the chances of me buying a Tesla as I had planned to a few years back are quite small. The man is capricious and toxic and I don’t care to own something associated with him
If the person is not a politician, or some form of professional whose assumed knowledge means their opinion might have real merit, then I don’t want to hear your opinions. I don’t care what side they are on. So yes, Elon is one of a list of things that turn me off to Teslas.
In general, I believe social media has made people believe that they DESERVE to be heard on EVERY TOPIC. Not that they can be heard, but that they deserve to be heard, and their opinions on every topic are important, and often they think their opinions are FACT. Few people still seem to recognize their own insignificance. I think it would be better if we all had a slight reduction in our views of how important our personal thoughts are to the world.
“If the person is not a politician, or some form of professional whose assumed knowledge means their opinion might have real merit, then I don’t want to hear your opinions.”
A few months ago I was watching Dick Cavett’s Vietnam in which he was interviewing a bunch of actors as well as politicians on the subject. When the question was posed why unqualified actors were being asked their opinions on the war Warren Beatty pointed out that the best and brightest experts were bungling their way through the topic and they clearly had nothing better to offer.
I do not mean to indicate that I will listen to those most involved, i.e. politicians. They are also often bungling morons. But I definitely do not care what a ceo or actor thinks about the world and it its issues outside of their direct purview. Musk may have very valid opinions on politics and the auto industry, or the current state of regulations around putting chips in humans. But outside of that, I don’t care. And when that is extrapolated out to all the bitching constantly on the internet where everyone wants their next tiktok to go viral? Its bad for society.
But I definitely do not care what a ceo or actor thinks about the world and it its issues outside of their direct purview.
Considering we are talking about a multi billionare with his own
ICBMer- “spaceship” making company maybe his crazy should be kept tabs on.Lack of physical controls, ugly tacked on touch screens and fear of out of warranty electronics fail are bigger detriments to my purchasing enthusiasm than association to Mr Musk or his rabid fans.
Though, would Tesla have all those same design choices/issues if Musk wasn’t CEO?
Other companies without Musk at the helm have so probably?
I’d say politics/beliefs impact my consumption and purchasing on like 1 4/10, in that if if two options are all together equal minus beliefs, I’ll be swayed, but generally I’ll take the better option the majority of the time. That said, security and general safety are a different thing.
For example, I don’t buy Tech made by Chinese companies not because “ChiNa BaD!!” but because of the very long standing history of Chinese tech products having all sort of security flaws and intentional backdoors. A cheap android tablet isn’t worth the headache of identity theft or viruses.
I leased a Tesla Model 3, a great car in many ways, with a few annoying flaws. When the lease was up a couple years ago, I didn’t get another Tesla. The reason was 100% because Elon had turned so toxic I couldn’t stand the idea of enriching him further.
I will absolutely connect Musk with Tesla, but I’m just one asshole. The more options we get the more people who will be willing to go to the competition just because they don’t want to buy a car from Elon. I never understood seeing business vehicles that drive around covered in political shit. Musk is the same except his audience isn’t cars in the immediate area, it’s the entire planet. I think Tesla makes amazing vehicles with incredible engineering talent, but there’s not really a business case for me own one when other companies make electric cars too, and really, why should I even buy an electric car when Volvo will sell me a 455HP PHEV station wagon with 40 miles of electric range?