Car collector and television host Jay Leno said in an interview that he believes there is “some marketing” involved in Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk‘s newly forged relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.
What Happened: “Everybody that wanted an electric car bought one. That's why I think Elon is so smart. Every liberal in California bought the Tesla. Conservatives "Ahh that's a hip guy." Well now he switches to Trump and you got all these conservatives buying,” Leno said in an episode of Spike’s Car Radio.
According to Leno, Musk found new buyers for electric vehicles manufactured by his company among conservatives with his relationship with Trump.
However, Tesla researcher Troy Teslike, who tracks the company’s delivery numbers, is not in agreement.
“Jay Leno’s claim that conservatives are buying lots of Teslas doesn’t match up with sales data. This year, Tesla’s Model 3/Y sales are expected to drop by 13% in the US and 9% in Europe,” Teslike said.
“Tesla is still trying to avoid a drop in total car sales this year compared to last year, but they're struggling with demand problems in the US and Europe,” he said while adding that the increase in sales in China is not enough to offset the decline in U.S. and Europe.
Why It Matters: For the full year 2023, Tesla delivered 1,808,581 vehicles around the globe. To mark a growth over last year, the company has to deliver at least 514,926 vehicles in the three months through the end of December. Tesla has never managed to deliver over 500,000 EVs in a quarter to date, making this an ambitious target.
Musk and Trump have recently forged a seemingly strong relationship. Musk campaigned for Trump in the swing state of Pennsylvania in October and Trump recently named Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency aimed at bringing down government bureaucracy, slashing excess regulations, cutting waste expenditures, and restructuring federal agencies.
Tesla stock has been rallying since Trump’s victory in the Presidential elections on hopes of regulatory hurdles on the deployment of autonomous vehicles easing under the new administration and Trump’s EV policies making it harder for smaller, rival EV players to survive, thereby eliminating competition for Tesla.
Price Action: Tesla stock closed at $418.10 on Thursday, down 1.6% for the day. After the Nov. 5 election, the stock rallied over 66%, helping it overcome the underperformance from the beginning of 2024 until then, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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