Elon Musk damages confidence in Tesla

Elon Musk has damaged the Swedes’ confidence in car manufacturer Tesla, according to a recent survey from Novus.

Tesla is drawn in the huge, negative reporting around Musk, says Ieva Englund at Novus.

The company has let more than 1,000 people respond to how they look at Elon Musk and electric car giant Tesla, where he is the largest owner, and compared to a previous survey from January – and the result is clear:

Musk’s mentioned gesture from the stage during Donald Trump’s installation ceremony has caused the Swedes to re -evaluate their image of Tesla.

The proportion who has a positive attitude towards Tesla fell by 8 percentage points to 11 percent, and the proportion that has a negative attitude to the car brand increased by as much as 16 percentage points. 63 percent of Swedes now have a negative picture of Tesla.

The biggest negative change in attitude has occurred among young people (18-34 years) and among younger middle -aged (35-49 years).

It should be very important target groups for Tesla, so in this way it is a great shame for the brand, says Ieva Englund, brand expert and business advisor at Novus, to TT.

The Tesla brand takes on a disproportionately large part of the negative associations, despite the fact that the criticism is primarily directed at Elon Musk. In data from Retriever we see that in one third of all the articles about him is also mentioned, which is remarkable, she continues.

For two years in a row, Tesla Model Y has been Sweden’s best -selling car – but the question is whether the controversies around Elon Musk cause the brand to be pushed down from the throne.

It is usually said that a large loss of confidence for a brand affects the deal, but it depends on how this is now being handled, says Ieva Englund.