Following its founding by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003, Tesla became the world’s leading electric vehicle brand in less than a decade. In the company’s early years, including after investor Elon Musk became CEO in 2008, it put out a few hundred or a few thousand cars a year. But by 2015, Tesla made the best-selling electric car model worldwide — a title Tesla has now held for seven of the last 10 years. In 2023, the company delivered 1.8 million cars and controlled about 20 percent of the world’s EV market.
But Tesla’s status as the Kleenex of EVs is now in question. After Musk’s full-throated endorsement of President Donald Trump, his Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, and his efforts to dismantle the United States government under the auspices of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, Tesla is facing an organized protest movement, fading sales around the world, and a tumbling stock market valuation. As the company’s image suffers, EV market experts are watching closely to see whether the fallout from Musk’s far-right activities will affec... Read more
