Elon Musk’s criticism causes Tesla to experience its worst sales decline in company history

Sales of Tesla have decreased as anger over Elon Musk’s involvement in politics grows.

CNN reports that the first three months of the year saw a 13% decline in sales. Since the company’s founding in 2003, this is the biggest decline. Tesla revealed on Wednesday that it has only delivered 336,681 vehicles during the quarter, which is 50,000 fewer than it had during the first three months of 2024. For over three years, this was the company’s worst sales performance.

This sobering news coincides with widespread demonstrations outside of the car dealerships by people who are against Musk’s employment with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), particularly the layoffs that have taken place since the agency started managing federal government budgets.

Vandalism against Tesla properties, such as charging stations and certain cars, has also happened. It’s possible that these instances deterred prospective Tesla buyers from making purchases.

In its sales statement, Tesla made no mention of the protests. It did, however, mention a Model Y update that was made during the quarter, which caused a brief, weeks-long pause in production at all four of its plants.

According to a CNN poll conducted last month, only 35% of Americans think favorably of Musk, while 53% think badly of him. This makes Musk both more well-known and less popular than Vice President JD Vance, who is rated favorably by 33% of Americans and unfavorably by 44%.