Edmunds analysts tell Reuters that Teslas accounted for 1.4% of all vehicles traded in at U.S. dealerships from Jan. 1 to March 15, up a full percentage point from March of 2024, as the EV maker faces declining sales and stock values.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s role as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump appears to have eroded the brand’s following among left-leaning Americans. Sweeping cuts to government budgets and payrolls ordered by the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have been met with protests and incidents of vandalism at Tesla showrooms and charging stations.

“Brand loyalty is becoming a bigger question mark as factors such as Elon Musk’s increasing public involvement in government, Tesla depreciation concerns and its increased saturation in major metro areas leave some longtime owners feeling disconnected from the brand,” Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ head of insights, tells Reuters reporter Abhirup Roy.

Earlier this month, Trump pledged to personally purchase a new Tesla and said Musk “is doing a FANTASTIC JOB” in an X post. “But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for.”

Read more at Reuters