Tesla's German car sales more than halve in October as wider EV sales jump

Brand damage from Musk’s politics

• Many argue Musk has “torched” Tesla’s core consumer base (especially environmentally minded, center/left buyers) through his politics and online behavior.
• Specific flashpoints mentioned: Nazi-salute-like gestures, promotion of extremist figures, anti-trans rhetoric, and general “drunk uncle”–style reactionary posting.
• Several commenters say they or their friends in Europe and the US have decided not to buy Teslas, or even sold existing cars, purely for ethical/brand reasons.
• Others push back that you can like the cars while disliking Musk, and that boycotting hurts 100k+ workers more than it changes Musk’s views. This group tends to frame his views as commonplace right-wing opinions rather than uniquely disqualifying.
• There is an extended side-debate about “woke left” vs right-wing identity politics, tolerance of intolerance, and whether focusing on identity issues is electorally effective.

Demand vs “battery-limited” narrative

• Some insist Tesla is still battery-limited, so adding models would just add complexity, not sales.
• Many others counter with the article’s data: German sales down ~50% year-to-date, broader EU sales reportedly down ~30%, plus price cuts, promotions, and underused factory capacity — all seen as classic signs of demand weakness.
• One faction attributes the Reuters framing to media distortion and “delivery waves”; others reply that multi‑month and YTD declines can’t be explained by shipping timing.

Product, quality, and competition

• Critiques: aging lineup (few genuinely new models besides Cybertruck), dated or odd styling, removal of physical controls (stalks, buttons) in favor of touchscreens, lack of CarPlay, and widely reported build-quality and service issues.
• Some say Teslas no longer lead on range, charging curve, or price vs quality; competitors (VW group, Hyundai/Kia, others in Europe) are seen as catching or surpassing them.
• Defenders highlight continuous over‑the‑air improvements, good value for money, and argue all EVs have quality problems; they dispute that Tesla is uniquely bad.

AI/robotics pivot and governance

• Several see Tesla’s “AI & robotics” positioning as partly a response to a weakening car business.
• There is concern about Musk creating xAI outside Tesla, allegedly shifting GPUs from Tesla to xAI, and then pushing Tesla to invest at a huge valuation — framed as a governance and fiduciary-risk issue for shareholders.
• Musk’s enormous pay package and sharply reduced long‑term volume targets (20M total by 2035 vs prior 20M/year ambition) are cited as signs of a captured, self‑enriching board.