Elon Musk's policies could hurt Tesla's sales in China

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) is warning Elon Musk that his active political activities could hurt Tesla's electric car sales, which have been falling for the past few months, Bloomberg reports.

The association itself does not analyze international politics, but some people see Tesla as a political company. CPCA CEO Cui Dongshu says this affects the electric car maker in the short term.

Tesla enjoyed a significant boost after Donald Trump's victory, with its stock price rising 73% in two months. But that has changed, and the company's shares are now down for the seventh straight week as investors no longer expect support from Trump and focus on falling sales.

"As a successful businessman, one should be embracing 100% of the market: treat everyone nicely, and everyone will be nice in return. But if you look at it in terms of voting, then half of voters will be friendly to you and half of them won’t be. This is the unavoidable risk that’s come after he [Elon Musk] got his personal glory," Dongshu said.

In Germany, Musk's policy of supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party led to Tesla sales falling by 71% in the first two months of 2025. In France, electric vehicle deliveries fell by 44%.

The situation in China is also quite sad - Tesla sales fell by 49% in February 2025. However, Dongshu noted that the problem here is not Elon Musk's policy, but the slow update of the Model Y. At the same time, the overall situation with electric cars in China is good and in February sales of electric and hybrid cars grew by 80%.