The one for Tesla Negative “Elon-Effect” has arrived at the bosses of the German company fabric parks. In a current survey by the market observer Deutsche Automobil Treuhand (dat), 35 percent of the fleet manager surveyed say that they basically rethink the procurement of Tesla vehicles. Another 8 percent report that there are beneficiaries who want to return their Tesla. However, 58 percent also said that they made their decisions regardless of the person Elon Musks (53).
In the past few months, in view of the political activities of Tesla boss and major shareholder Musk, companies have repeatedly separated from Teslas in their fleet. The survey based on 117 talks with fleet guides now puts the trend on a broader basis.
Changed perception in the market
“The statements of the fleet managers in the current DAT barometer show that these multipliers, which are important in the automotive market, also think about the procurement of Tesla vehicles in their fleets,” says Martin Weiss, head of the DAT vehicle assessment. “The activities of Elon Musk have led to the Tesla brand experienced a different perception in the market. In addition, other providers have caught up in terms of technology. Tesla was pioneer in many areas, it is no longer the case. “
However, he points out that the recent declines of the Tesla new approvals-in the first two months of the year they sagged in Germany by 71 percent – could also have to do with a production change. The announcement of the now available facelift of the Model Y games “certainly also a role here,” says Weiss.
In view of the recent developments, industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer has checked how Tesla’s price policy has recently developed – for example, whether the brand is trying to boost the paralyzing business with discounts. Little is happening. “In order to counteract the dramatic breakdowns, one would have expected more apart from a facelift of the Model Y,” he writes in his current discount study.
“The Tesla hype is history”
The price comparison with other brands is also “sobering for Tesla,” says the industry expert. New models of brands such as VW, Skoda or BMW are “much more attractive than the aged Tesla models” in the starting versions at the prices actually paid. The brand will therefore find it difficult to stop the decline in admission figures in the next few months. Prices and old models add up Tesla as well as the “less likeable actions” Musk, says Dudenhöffer. “The Tesla hype is history.”
On the other hand, there has been little to see on the used car market. The residual values of Tesla vehicles have recently shown a significant decline. However, this is “not yet due to an” elon effect “, but rather to other drivers such as market development and pricing policy, says Dat expert Weiss. “But it can be expected that the person Elon Musk and the associated discussion or perception also have another negative effect on the residual values.”
No bushes on the used market
Also on the Mobile.de vehicle exchange, there is no bruise on used Teslas. “At the moment we see no clear shift in Tesla’s private sale,” says from there on request. “While the offer has increased by 2.2 percent since November 2024, the vehicles sell 12.9 percent faster.” Competitor Autoscout24 had recently reported that Musk’s political commitment and his image change still had no influence on the used car market.
However, the used car market for electric cars is very small, which is mainly due to the fact that the proportion of electricity in the German vehicle population is still low. While electric cars made up 13.5 percent of new registrations last year, it was only 2.7 percent in the case of ownerships – i.e. used sales.