Tesla sales in Germany fall 76% after Musk’s election comments #NewsGerman

00:00 Speaker A

Tesla sales in Germany falling 76% in February. This in response to CEO Elon Musk weighing in on the country’s closely contested federal election. Now Musk did endorse a far-right alternative for Germany’s ahead for Germany ahead of the election on February 23rd. Tesla sales declined was a sharp contrast from the overall EV sales that we did see in Germany. They actually rose by 31% in February, but when you’re taking a look at today’s stock reaction, you’re only getting gains of just about three tenths of a percent, of course, is coming on the heels of the pressure that we have seen on the stock most recently. It is one of those that that is bucking the downward trend that we are seeing across some of those mag 7 names. But again, Maddie, this calls into question just, I guess, two things. One, just whether or not demand for the EV market, what exactly that looks like and what exactly maybe those more realistic expectations are going to be here in the months, quarters, and years to come. But then two, just how how whether or not Elon Musk is hurting the brand at all, and whether or not this backlash, and we’ve started to see hints of, whether or not that picks up and is actually reflected maybe more broadly and at a larger scale here through the sales in the months to come.

02:17 Speaker B

I think it’s also interesting the context of what we’re seeing going on in Germany with that spending plan, leading to German bonds having one of the worst days since the fall of the Berlin Wall. So perhaps an idea of German stocks lifting, whereas we’re seeing the broader economy potentially on on the upside, which I only bring up because if we are going to start to see Germany exit this time of economic downturn, maybe that unleashes a little more consumer spending, but you also gave the context that this is not about an overall EV backdrop that we’re seeing in Germany where people just aren’t buying the cars. They’re specifically not buying Teslas. And I think it’s important to just note that that is perhaps coming in response to Elon Musk’s political beliefs and the commentary he has had over in Germany. Though, to your point, we do have Tesla still up today, and perhaps off the back of that standing ovation that he received in Congress overnight here.