Tesla sales dropped 60% in Germany

Tesla’s Valuation, Profitability, and “Meme Stock” Dynamics

• Several comments argue Tesla’s market cap is disconnected from car-making fundamentals and depends heavily on belief in Musk and future AI/energy dominance.
• Some see current valuation as “state capture”/political grift rather than product-driven; others counter that Tesla still has strong EV margins and unique vertical integration.
• Disagreement over profitability: one side claims recent profits are significantly boosted by crypto/accounting changes, the other insists the core EV business is profitable even excluding that.
• R&D, especially for autonomy, is noted as a major, non-negotiable cost that pressures margins as prices and competition intensify.

FSD / Autonomy Debate

• Critical view: current FSD is effectively advanced driver assistance, not true autonomy; owners bear risk; hardware and backend are not ready for real robotaxis without costly upgrades, remote ops centers, and more staff.
• Specific critiques: refusal to use LIDAR, dismissing 5G, and overselling “no-intervention” autonomy.
• Positive anecdotes: some users report months of commute driving with zero interventions, claiming FSD is already safer than themselves.
• Negative anecdotes: others recount repeated unsafe maneuvers, lane errors, and parking/merge failures, arguing this proves it’s nowhere near trustworthy full self-driving.

Market Conditions in Germany and Europe

• Official figures cited: overall German new car market down only ~1–3% YoY, while Tesla registrations dropped ~60%, and its EV market share fell from ~14% to ~4%.
• EVs overall lost share due to high electricity prices and subsidy removal; interest rate hikes made 0%/very low-interest Tesla loans of prior years unsustainable.
• Company-car tax rules historically favored EVs (0.25% vs 1% of list price), but caps and rising electricity costs weaken that advantage.
• Strong competition from Chinese makers (especially BYD) and established European brands expanding their EV lineups is seen as a structural threat.

Musk’s Politics and Brand Damage

• Many comments link the German drop explicitly to Musk’s far-right associations (AfD appearance, Nazi-salute incidents), calling Teslas “Swasticars” or associating them with hate groups.
• Some fleet managers and individual buyers reportedly exclude Tesla purely over Musk’s behavior, despite wanting fully electric fleets.
• Others argue macroeconomics and competition matter more than politics, but concede politics is “not zero” as a factor.

Global Signals and Consumer Sentiment

• Similar sales declines noted in Norway and Australia; high month-to-month volatility makes trends somewhat unclear.
• Used Tesla listings reportedly spiking in some markets; some owners publicly distance themselves from Musk with bumper stickers.

CEO Persona and Culture Wars

• Repeated theme: a modern CEO’s “skill” is avoiding culture wars; Musk is portrayed as the opposite, to Tesla’s detriment.
• Comparisons made to lower-profile CEOs who keep politics vague; several commenters explicitly say they’d pay a premium to avoid buying a Tesla now.

Meta: HN Flagging and Coverage

• Some confusion and frustration about the story being flagged; speculation that highly polarized Musk threads attract brigading, prompting auto-flagging despite relatively substantive discussion.