Would you buy another brand of EV rather than a Tesla because of Elon Musk’s current behaviour?
If you answered yes to that question, then you’re confirming a theory recently expounded by new Polestar global boss Michael Lohscheller (yep, that’s him above).
You might even hear from a Polestar sales person as a result!
Lohscheller, a German who took over Polestar last October, told the financial news service Bloomberg Musk’s increasing involvement in politics could backfire.
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Musk was a key Donald Trump backer in his successful run for a second presidency and has also vocally supported far right political parties in other countries, notably the AfD in Germany.
“We get a lot of people writing that they don’t like all this,” Lohscheller said.
“It’s important to listen closely to what they say. And I can tell you, a lot of people have very, very negative sentiment.”
Lohscheller told Bloomberg he had instructed Polestar sales people to go after disgruntled owners.
Lohscheller was also unsparing about Musk’s political involvements, especially his backing of the AfD.
“For Germany, somebody outside of Germany endorsing right-wing political parties is a big thing,” said Lohscheller, who was born in Bocholt, North Rhine-Westphalia.
“You want to know what I think about it? I think it’s totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. You just don’t do that. This is pure arrogance, and these things will not work.”
Lohscheller did at least acknowledge Musk’s business skills, describing him as “very successful” and acknowledging he had “done incredible things with Tesla”.
But there’s no doubt about a rising anti-Musk faction among Tesla buyers. The world’s leading EV brand had its first decline in sales in over a decade in 2024, selling a still very healthy 1.79 million vehicles.
In Australia, Tesla sales dipped 16.9 per cent, while the overall EV market rose 4.7 per cent. Tesla still held 42 per cent of the segment.
But with the Model Y Juniper update on the way and cheaper Cybertruck models due in North America this year, the dip could be temporary.
In the Netherlands, a survey showed as many as a third of Tesla owners have sold or are looking to sell their vehicles due to Elon Musk’s antics. In the UK, another survey claimed 60 per cent of respondents said Musk’s behaviour put them off buying a Tesla.
Other owners have put bumper stickers on their Teslas with messages like ‘I bought this before Elon went crazy’.
But whatever downturn Tesla is experiencing right now, it’s in a much better situation than seven-year-old Polestar, which is currently losing US$110 million per month ($176 million) and delivered only 45,000 EVs in 2024 – a 15 per cent drop compared to 2023.
However, the Polestar 3 and 4 SUVS have launched in 2024 and the Polestar 5 saloon, 7 compact SUV, 6 convertible and second-generation 2 are on their way in the coming years.
Sweeping up just a few disgruntled Tesla buyers would clearly be good for Polestar’s business!
Polestar is a Swedish-based publicly listed company controlled by the Chinese automotive giant Geely.
The post The Tesla Titanic? The rival electric vehicle maker readying to cash in on Model 3 and Model Y owners abandoning an Elon Musk-captained ship appeared first on EV Central.
