Tesla owners have become disillusioned with Elon Musk’s outspoken incursions into global politics, says the head of rival electric carmaker (EV) Polestar.
An example of the discontent, said Michael Lohscheller, is the increasing appearance on Teslas of bumper stickers such as: “I bought this car before Elon lost his mind.” Or “I bought this car before Elon went crazy.”
In an interview with financial news agency Bloomberg, the Polestar CEO said Musk’s recent meddling in the political affairs of Britain and Germany was “pure arrogance”.
“We get a lot of people writing that they don’t like all this,” Lohscheller told Bloomberg.“It’s important to listen closely to what they say. And I can tell you, a lot of people have a very, very negative sentiment.”
Lohscheller, who took over the reins of Polestar last October, branded Musk a “very successful businessman” who had “done incredible things with Tesla”.
But he attacked US citizen Musk – who owns social media platform X and is the head of government efficiency in President Donald Trump’s administration – over his support for the far-Right Alternative for Germany party.
Lohscheller, who was born in Germany, said: “For Germany, somebody outside of Germany endorsing Right-wing political parties is a big thing.
“You want to know what I think about it? I think it’s totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. You just don’t do that. This is pure arrogance, and these things will not work.”
Musk has launched numerous attacks on British PM Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour government. He has also aligned himself with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, and expressed support for jailed British far-Right agitator Tommy Robinson.
Tesla recorded its first ever drop in annual sales last year amid a wider slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales and growing competition from China.
Rival Polestar, spun out of Sweden’s Volvo and its Chinese parent company Geely four years ago, is also battling lacklustre sales.
Its share price has plummeted more than 95pc since its New York stock market debut in 2022.