TESLA SEES $15 BILLION DROP IN ITS VALUE
Elon Musk and the electric vehicle manufacturer have recently made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Last year, about 5 million Tesla vehicles were recalled globally, making it the most recalled car brand in 2024. Additionally, due to the tech billionaire, a significant investor sold shares worth $585 million. And, on the internet, people have been ripping into the controversial Cybertruck's build quality.
According to research and consulting firm Brand Finance, Tesla's brand value declined in 2024 for the second year in a row. According to the firm's annual ranking, it is currently estimated to be $43 billion, down from $58.3 billion at the beginning of 2024 and $66.2 billion at the beginning of 2023. Last year, Tesla's stock price skyrocketed by 63 percent, reaching a record high in December after Donald Trump won the election in November. However, CEO of Brand Finance David Haigh noted that there are drawbacks to Musk's public antics, including the fact that he was twice accused of giving a "Nazi salute" during President Trump's inauguration on Monday. "There are people who think he's wonderful, but many that don't," Haigh clarified."If you are buying electric vehicles, his persona is highly likely to impact your view of whether or not you want to buy one of his company’s cars, but that’s only one of many factors.”
Brand Finance examined responses from roughly 175,000 survey participants globally, of whom 16,000 expressed opinions about Tesla. Additionally, the study discovered that its scores on important metrics like "consideration," "reputation," and "recommendation" plummeted in the US, Europe, and Asia. Between 2024 and 2025, the average European "consideration" score—which measures whether consumers would consider purchasing from a brand—went from 21% to 16%. Furthermore, Tesla maintained a high loyalty score of 90% in the US, which will come as no surprise at all. According to CNBC, customers who already owned a Tesla "were likely to keep driving it over the next 12 months." However, its US recommendation score decreased from 8.2 to 4.3 out of 10.
According to Haigh, the company's "pulling power is weakening" as a result of Tesla's declining scores, and there is a chance that the company "won't be able to sell so many products, and it won't be able to sell at such high prices as it did before." "Tesla will be viewed as past their peak and will start to go down unless they can come up with a whole range of new products that will really excite consumers, and unless they can mitigate some of the antagonism caused by their leader," he added. According to other analysts, Trump's presidency is generally bad for electric cars but good for Tesla. JPMorgan predicted in early January that roughly 40% of Tesla's earnings would be at risk following Trump's election.
This is taking into account Trump's proposals to remove EV tax credits and subsidies.
"Tesla does not appear to us on track to dominate the global auto industry amidst the electrification transition, which we view as only the starting point for present valuation," JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman wrote.