If Tesla owner Dann Kingsley were in the market for a new electric vehicle (EV) today, he says he would strongly consider other brands first.

Tesla sales are in an unprecedented slide. Competitors are rapidly gaining ground. There’s a lot of bad news for Tesla lately – but it’s unclear if the politics of its polarizing CEO, Elon Musk, are to blame.

Staggering sales drops, swastika-daubed EVs, companies culling fleet models, and fan-forum owners selling their cars—Elon Musk's alt-right antics are seriously impacting his electric car business.

Is Elon Musk's political profile and BFF status with President Trump hurting sales of Austin-based Tesla? Maybe — but it's complicated, analysts say. Why it matters: Tesla is by far the U.S. electric vehicle sales leader and long the world's top seller (though it has recently been trading the lead with China's BYD).

Tesla’s financial tale, however, has taken a turn since Trump took the oath of office with Tesla stock down over 17% since Jan. 21, as of midday Friday. Just weeks before the inauguration, Tesla reported the first full-year drop in global sales in its history as a public company, according to a report from CNN.

His AI company, xAI, recently introduced Grok-3, a model Musk claims surpasses rivals like ChatGPT-4o and Gemini 2 Pro in reasoning, science, and coding. The company also launched DeepSearch, an AI-driven tool aimed at enhancing search and data analysis.

During Tesla 's ( TSLA -0.03%) fourth-quarter earnings call last week, Elon Musk got investors amped after the entrepreneur spoke at length about the company's AI roadmap and how it's betting big on humanoid robotics.

Is Elon Musk's political profile and BFF status with President Trump hurting sales of Austin-based Tesla? Maybe — but it's complicated, analysts say. Why it matters: Tesla is by far the U.S. electric vehicle sales leader and long the world's top seller (though it has recently been trading the lead with China's BYD).

Anti Elon Musk protesters crowded the sidewalk outside the Tesla dealership in San Francisco Monday. Chanting things like, “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Trump and Musk have got to go,” protesters waved signs emblazoned with anti-Musk messaging like ‘Don’t Buy Nazi Cars,