TESLA SHARES HAVE TAKEN QUITE a pounding as people object to Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
In a breathtaking piece of chutzpah, US President Donald Trump has promised to buy a Tesla to show support for the electric car maker’s chief and his ally Elon Musk amid recent “Tesla Takedown” protests and the slump in the company’s stock price.
Shares in Tesla rose about five percent in pre-market trading, rebounding from the biggest one-day fall in 4½ years.
Musk’s role in sweeping cuts to the federal workforce at the behest of Trump has led to protests in the US against Tesla.
About 350 demonstrators protested outside a Tesla electric vehicle dealership in Portland, Oregon, last week, while nine people were arrested during a raucous demonstration outside a New York City Tesla dealership earlier in March.
Musk is spearheading the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump defended Musk, saying he was “putting it on the line” to help the country and was doing a “fantastic” job.
The man who in January took aim at electric vehicles and revoked a 2021 executive order, signed by predecessor Joe Biden, that sought to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the US would be electric by 2030, said, “I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American.”
Musk thanked Trump for his support on his own social media platform X.
Tesla’s market capitalisation has more than halved since hitting an all-time high of $US1.5 trillion ($A2.38 trillion) on December 17, erasing most of the gains the stock made after Musk-backed Trump won the US election in November.
The stock’s decline since December stems from falling vehicle sales and profits, protests against Musk’s political activity and investor worries that Musk was concentrating more on politics than his core business. The world’s richest man has also suffered personally; his own wealth has been reduced by $US120 million ($A190.7 million).