Summary
Tesla’s European sales plunged 45% in January, while the EV market grew 37%, with rivals like Volkswagen and Renault gaining ground.
Production changes for the Model Y is claimed to contribute to lower sales, but Elon Musk’s political controversies also sparked backlash.
Musk’s support for far-right parties and attacks on European leaders have made him unpopular, as polls show negative perceptions in Germany and the UK.
Tesla’s struggles come as European automakers face stricter emissions targets, increasing competition in the region’s growing EV market.
iirc most of his wealth is on paper, in the form of stock for his companies. He’s relatively cash poor
…and Tesla is massively overgeared w.r.t. stock price relative to earnings. Companies normally have a valuation which is 5-40x their earnings. (NVDA 40x, AAPL 35x, GM 7x, Stellantis 6.5x)
Tesla is currently 138x, and they’re down nearly a third this month. They were 200x at their last earnings call I think.
Tesla is a hypestock that will crash when the AI bubble bursts and self-driving dies as a concept.
As usual with billionaires (and actually most people with a significant wealth)
And they live off of loans collateralized by stock. Musk has easy access to as much cash as he could possibly want, whenever he wants it. He’s definitely not “cash poor”.
Definitionally cash poor.