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You’ve been overwhelmed with headlines all week – what's worth a closer look? One Thing takes you beyond the headlines and helps make sense of what everyone is talking about. Host David Rind talks to experts, reporters on the front lines and the real people impacted by the news about what they've learned – and why it matters. New episodes every Wednesday and Sunday.
Tesla in Trouble
CNN One Thing
Mar 23, 2025
Since Inauguration Day, Tesla has seen its stock price drop amid declining consumer interest and occasionally violent protests pushing back against CEO Elon Musk. We hear from drivers who have (and haven’t) ditched their cars and explore why it’s not just DOGE giving the company reason to worry.
Guest: Allison Morrow, CNN Business Senior Writer
Have a tip or question about the new Trump administration? Call us at 202-240-2895.
Episode Transcript
Woman
00:00:02
All right. There's a big protest going on outside of the Tesla building.
Julia Vargas Jones
00:00:07
We're hearing one thing very often here. Don't support a Nazi. They're calling Elon Musk a fascist.
David Rind
00:00:16
Ever since Elon Musk joined up with President Donald Trump and started slashing government jobs in the name of efficiency, some people have taken out their frustrations on his signature company.
TikTok
00:00:28
Flop flop flop, Cybertruck flop...
David Rind
00:00:30
Some of the pushback has been relatively harmless, like drive by middle fingers or messages on dirty car doors in the boardroom.
TikTok
00:00:38
Elon in the boardroom looking shot, put it in reverse take it off the lot.
David Rind
00:00:42
Oher methods, have been a little more aggressive, like the group calling themselves the Cybertruck Hunters, they follow close behind the trucks and project images on their huge back panels, but some of it has tipped into outright violence.
Kate Bouldan
00:00:57
Police in Seattle are investigating an incident where four cybertruck's at a Tesla lot were damaged or destroyed in a fire.
Reporter
00:01:04
Someone shot through the windows of a Tesla dealership in Oregon and in Massachusetts. An entire Tesla supercharging station went up in flames.
John Berman
00:01:11
This morning, the FBI is investigating after several Tesla vehicles were shot at and set on fire in Las Vegas. Attorney General Pam Bondi calls the attacks nothing short of domestic terrorism.
Josh Campbell
00:01:22
Authorities say the word resist was spray painted on the building.
David Rind
00:01:26
Things have gotten so bad, the Vancouver Auto Show had to pull Tesla's display from their event this week due to safety concerns. And since Election Day, Tesla stock has tumbled. Global sales are dropping. The resale market is drying up. But is this a direct result of Musk's work with DOGE, or is it something deeper? Today I talked to current and former Tesla drivers about how they're navigating this moment. And CNN Business Senior Writer Allison Morrow explains why America's most popular EV brand is feeling the heat from its competitors. From CNN, this is One Thing I'm David Rind.
David Rind
00:02:16
Tell me, what car do you drive right now?
Jennifer Trebb
00:02:18
I currently own a Mercedes GLC.
David Rind
00:02:22
But you did own a Tesla.
Jennifer Trebb
00:02:23
Oh yes I did.
David Rind
00:02:25
And when did that change?
Jennifer Trebb
00:02:27
A few weeks ago.
David Rind
00:02:30
Jennifer Trebb lives outside Columbus, Ohio. She made the switch to an electric car a few years ago. In 2023. Her husband had owned an EV for a while, not a Tesla, and she was impressed with how it drove. So in May of that year, she bought a brand new Tesla model Y. Now, everything was good at first, she said. It was exciting to be behind the wheel of something so cutting edge. All her friends wanted to take it for a spin, But that all changed around election time last November.
Jennifer Trebb
00:03:01
'The fact that Elon became so entrenched in the Trump campaign and then obviously in the administration when the inauguration occurred was disturbing for me, went against a lot of my morals and political beliefs, especially the inauguration when he did the what is now, I guess, the infamous salute. Yes. We'll call it what it was. I thought it was a Nazi salute, but after that point, getting in my car every day became more of a moral challenge than anything else. I would look down at that Tesla on the steering wheel and it just made me sick to my stomach. Two weeks after the inauguration, I had an incident in the grocery store parking lot where I was called a Nazi A-hole. I mean, I was just loading my groceries into the back of the Tesla and someone rolled up next to me, rolled the window down and shouted that at me. I had been having reservations about driving it prior to that, but that that sealed the deal for me and I started looking for another vehicle. So I started, you know, I went to Carvana and a few of the other places where you can, you know, trade in your used car. Started getting quotes for it. And mind you, the Tesla was barely two years old and only had 10,000 miles on it. And I was a little astounded at the offers that I was receiving for trade in values. I mean, they were really low.
David Rind
00:04:37
Like, what kind of offers like like how how low were we talking?
Jennifer Trebb
00:04:41
'So the car brand new was a little under $60,000, and I was getting offers between 27 and $30,000. So I ended up going Where I found the best trade-in offer. Which is how I wound up with the car that I have now.
David Rind
00:04:58
So what was the final damage, so to speak?
Jennifer Trebb
00:05:01
32. 32.
David Rind
00:05:03
32.
Jennifer Trebb
00:05:04
So I probably lost about $18,000.
Pam Perkins
00:05:10
I actually said to my husband, what do you think if I sold this car? And he said, well, who would buy it?
David Rind
00:05:16
Pam Perkins has had a Tesla model Y since 2022, but she's a Democrat. And around December she thought about getting rid of it. She said she's embarrassed. Drive it. But as anger around Elon Musk has grown, the market for used Teslas has fallen off a cliff.
Pam Perkins
00:05:34
I haven't actively tried to sell my car. I think that if someone offered me a price that was acceptable, then I would want to have a conversation with that person. I do know somebody who would give me $10,000 and drive the car with pride? But I'm certainly certainly not going to acquiesce to that. What if they gave me 40,000 and said they were going to drive it with pride? I might have a conversation. But not for ten. Not for 10K.
David Rind
00:06:08
Pam has a price.
Pam Perkins
00:06:10
I have a price. Yeah. So I you know, it's sort of like, you know, not using paper straws to save the environment. I'm not sure what selling this car would really say other than just maybe making me feel better.
David Rind
00:06:30
That's the thing. What is the most effective way to send a message to the world's richest man? I asked Jennifer Trebb about that.
David Rind
00:06:38
These extreme acts of protest that we've seen, like outright vandalism of parked cars. Police in Vegas say someone shot at and set some cars on fire at a repair facility the other day. Are you on board with that kind of protest? Because obviously you don't agree with with Musk and the policies he's supporting.
Jennifer Trebb
00:06:57
Let's do it. Not violence is never, ever an answer. I think peaceful protest and just the simple act of doing what I did to get rid of the vehicle or not buy the vehicle in the first place is is how we hurt Musk, even if it doesn't hurt his wallet too much. I think the negative press alone should be sending a strong message to him that we don't want him in our government. Most of us, and I think that's the message we should be sending.
David Rind
00:07:29
Now, it's important to remember that for some people, Teslas are not just cars. There are way to help the environment and they can become part of their personalities.
Steven Minnick
00:07:39
I was a big fan of of what they were doing, and I like the mission. And I always loved the fact that, you know, Elon always said like this is to promote electrified transportation. And I don't care if we fail. I just want to promote electrified transportation, even if it's not us doing it. My name is Steven Minnick, and I drive a Tesla Cybertruck.
David Rind
00:08:04
Steven told me he's owned Teslas since 2015. He watches all of the big product announcements, and he says last spring, he decided to take the plunge and buy a Cybertruck. I remember when those first started hitting the roads like they were a big curiosity, right? Like people are stopping to look at them like they tried to crowds if they were just parked. Was that your experience?
Steven Minnick
00:08:24
Ever since I've owned a Tesla. There's always been people that I don't know, didn't like them or saw them as an offense to the vehicle they drive. I guess I've had, you know, guys in pickup trucks roll call and, you know, flip me off even with the model S. And that was about the same with the with the Cybertruck. Until it was it was around election time. I don't know if I really put a finger on it, but it seemed like the guys in the big trucks were starting to give me thumbs ups, and the middle fingers were starting to come from Subarus and Hondas and Volkswagens and stuff. The part that I really noticed was I ended up going up to Vermont for a ski weekend or whatever, and as soon as I crossed into Vermont, I was getting like a middle finger every ten minutes on the road. I was like, there's another one, that there's another one. There's like, well, these they don't they're not appreciative of my vehicle choice.
David Rind
00:09:18
I mean, we've seen, you know, incidents of vandalism at dealerships, charging stations.
Steven Minnick
00:09:24
Yeah. That's a little crazy.
David Rind
00:09:26
Do you worry at all for your safety now?
Steven Minnick
00:09:30
You know, when I was parked at the the lot at a ski mountain, you know, it got vandalized. You know, guys would come up and, you know, it's northern Vermont. It's covered in road salt and stuff. And they drew a lot of, you know, male phalluses around and some, some rather pornographic stuff on, on the stainless, you know, but worried for my safety. You know, if I was standing there, I'll bet not a single person would have come up and done anything.
David Rind
00:09:56
Did you vote for President Trump in November?
Steven Minnick
00:09:59
I did not, no.
David Rind
00:10:00
But with Musk being so closely aligned now with Trump, I think people see Musk and they think of Trump. Yeah. So as someone who's driving a Cybertruck, do you think people are assuming that you are a Trump supporter?
Steven Minnick
00:10:15
I would assume so.
David Rind
00:10:17
And you're okay with people making that connection with you, even if it's not true?
Steven Minnick
00:10:21
People make their own, make up their own minds about whatever I you know, I can't I can't force what people believe about me or not. So I just kind of roll with it, if that's what they think.
David Rind
00:10:32
So you don't want to get rid of your Cybertruck?
Steven Minnick
00:10:35
Oh, goodness. No, I love that thing. I mean, I bought Tesla stock the day they went public. I was a fan back then and people thought I was crazy. And, you know, looking at the sock count, it's down from its highest point, which is kind of a shame. You know, I don't know what he sees in the federal government. I think it would probably be better, you know, monetarily for me, you know, as a stockholder, if he went back and focused on his companies and stuff. But, yeah, I think most of this is temporary. There's and I don't think they're going away anytime soon. I'm not selling stock. In fact, I would say it's a good time to buy. I'm certainly holding on to it. I think they still have the future.
David Rind
00:11:18
We got to take a quick break, but when we come back, I'm going to talk to CNN's Allison Morrow about why some Wall Street experts don't quite share Stephen's optimism.
David Rind
00:11:37
So, Allison, we know that a majority of Americans have a negative view of Elon Musk, at least according to recent CNN polling. But my understanding was that before Musk started his work with the Trump administration, Tesla was basically untouchable in the electric vehicle industry, at least in America. Is that starting to change?
Allison Morrow
00:11:56
Yeah, David, it sure seems that way. You know, Tesla has made itself synonymous with EVs, especially in the US. And it is to be clear, it's still the most popular EV brand. The issue now is that there's more competition from Ford, from Toyota, from, you know, domestic producers that Americans are used to seeing. And that's creating price competition that Tesla hasn't been as good at keeping up with. More recently, and that is what Wall Street is concerned about.
Kate Bouldan
00:12:29
'Tesla's stock has been taking a beating. The company what is it now? Lost more than half of its value since peaking in mid-December.
Allison Morrow
00:12:38
So Tesla's stock shot to record highs on Trump's reelection. But for the past eight weeks or so, it has been losing value every single week. And it's now down about 50% from its record high.
Sara Fischer
00:12:51
But overall, the downward trend is really bad for Elon Musk, especially considering the fact that so much of his personal wealth is still tied up in that stock.
Allison Morrow
00:12:59
So he's lost about $120 billion this year alone, which is more than any of us will ever have. He's lost that much.
David Rind
00:13:07
Yeah, kind of a drop in the bucket for him, but still, that's a big number.
Allison Morrow
00:13:10
Absolutely. There are two main reasons that the stock is tumbling so badly, and it's fundamentally problems at Tesla's core business. Like it needs to sell more EVs. It needs to innovate. And then the second problem is less quantifiable, but still very resonant, especially in the United States, which is Musk's dip into right wing authoritarian politics. That is very much angering his base in America. You know, keep in mind, historically, Tesla owners in the United States are liberals who are concerned about the environment.
David Rind
00:13:48
Right.
Allison Morrow
00:13:49
And those are the people who are the most horrified about what they're seeing in D.C. right now.
David Rind
00:13:54
Right. That's what I want to try to figure out how much of this is attributable to his relationship with Trump and Doge. Or are people just, like, not digging the product as much anymore?
Allison Morrow
00:14:06
I think it's both. You know, car buyers have a lot more options for EVs right now. Tesla hasn't done much to innovate its product in the last few years, and the price point is still pretty high relative to its competitors. Analysts are seeing are looking ahead at future sales, and they're scared about Tesla not meeting its goals, its sales goals for the year. A lot of that has to do with China, which is a huge market for Tesla and where it's been losing market share steadily for several months because China just has a lot of really, really good competitors who we don't even allow in the United States. And so Tesla's really struggling to compete in China. And then similar circumstances are playing out across Europe because Europe has a lot of imports from China and elsewhere where Tesla is struggling to compete.
David Rind
00:14:57
Well, so are there plans from Musk and Tesla to try to turn this around? Like what's the way forward?
Allison Morrow
00:15:04
That's a great question. Tesla historically does not speak to the press directly. And so they have never returned. Not once. They have never returned a request for comment and never answered.
David Rind
00:15:16
Never once, wow.
Allison Morrow
00:15:16
Not ever. So, you know, we'll have to wait until Tesla's next earnings report to get a full check in on how they're adjusting to this new reality. But Wall Street is pretty impatient.
Dan Ives
00:15:33
We've been one of the biggest supporters of Musk and Tesla and still are. But, you know, sometimes you hit a line where the clock strikes midnight. And I think one.
Allison Morrow
00:15:44
Of the biggest boosters of Tesla is an analyst named Dan Ives. He has been a long standing cheerleader, just the kind of consummate Tesla bull.
Dan Ives
00:15:55
It's about Tesla customers. I mean.
Allison Morrow
00:15:58
And even he last week put out a note saying investors are getting impatient. Patience is wearing thin.
Dan Ives
00:16:05
Yeah, again. DOGE, it's now taking on a life of its own. There can be a balancing act with Tesla investors. Any more cancellations come back home. Be Tesla CEO, balance it better.
Allison Morrow
00:16:18
He hardly ever wavers on Tesla. But Elon Musk's politics are really starting to make investors nervous, in part because they're seeing not only the sales drop in the U.S. and elsewhere, but also the brand deteriorate as people are vandalizing Tesla charging stations. We've seen reports of vandalism at various dealerships, protests are breaking out, and people who are trying to offload their Teslas are struggling to offload. Their Teslas are putting stickers on to say, like, I bought this before Elon Musk lost his mind.
David Rind
00:16:53
Oh, there. Like virtue signaling like, hey, don't don't blame me. Like I'm stuck with this car now.
Allison Morrow
00:16:58
Yeah, people, people are expressing like they're really embarrassed to have their Teslas now. We're seeing that the resale market is another warning sign for Tesla, because use Teslas are coming onto the resale market quickly, and a lot of people are trying to offload them because of what we've talked about with the the stigma around Elon Musk. And according to car gurus, which is a price tracking website use, Teslas are losing value faster than most other brands, like the average brand is falling at a rate of about 2.7%, whereas Tesla is falling at 7%. And I would say it's worth noting also the Cybertruck, which is the most polarizing of Tesla's vehicles, you know.
David Rind
00:17:44
To say the least.
Allison Morrow
00:17:45
To say the least, it's an eyesore. And and people feel very strongly about their hate and love for it. The price of a used Cybertruck in February was 58% less than it was a year ago, so it's getting hit especially. That's where you really see the politics coming into play. Like if you want to offload your Cybertruck, you are absolutely going to lose money.
Reporter
00:18:11
Well, President Trump, are you looking to buy or lease today?
President Donald Trump
00:18:13
I'm going to buy and I'm going to buy it because number one, it's a great product as good as it gets.
Allison Morrow
00:18:20
Tesla obviously is aware of its brand problem in the United States. And I think there's some expectation that Tesla was going to lose some liberal customer base, but maybe gain some conservative customer base. So in an effort to kind of turn things around.
President Donald Trump
00:18:37
Should I get in?
Allison Morrow
00:18:39
They did this marketing stunt where they had several Teslas on the South Lawn of the White House.
President Donald Trump
00:18:43
This is a different panel that I've had. Everything's computer.
Allison Morrow
00:18:47
And President Trump and Elon Musk came out and talked about how great Teslas were.
President Donald Trump
00:18:51
What you best of these cars. What are you?
Elon Musk
00:18:53
Well, the car that I drive is the Model S.
President Donald Trump
00:18:56
Which is that one?
Elon Musk
00:18:58
That red one in the middle.
President Donald Trump
00:18:58
I like that, yeah. Yeah.
Allison Morrow
00:19:00
Yeah, he really sounded like a car salesman when he was pitching it.
David Rind
00:19:03
Yeah. Trump said he was going to buy one himself.
Allison Morrow
00:19:05
Oh yeah, Trump's going to buy one himself. And then, you know, some conservative rich guys, you know, political guys. Commentators came out saying they're going to buy Teslas too. So you did see a little bit of a burst of activity in the stock soon after that. But that didn't last. You know, it fizzled after a few hours.
David Rind
00:19:23
'But wait, speaking of Trump, I've been confused about something. Musk is in charge of this big electric vehicle company. But President Trump is not really a fan of electric vehicles. And on his first day back in office, he signed an executive order eliminating President Biden's so-called electric vehicle mandate. Now, to be clear, this was not actually a mandate, but rather a tax credit to encourage people to buy electric cars. So wouldn't getting rid of that actually hurt Musk's business?
Allison Morrow
00:19:51
Yeah, Tesla has benefited hugely from $7,500 EV tax credit, which goes to shoppers of electric vehicles. You know, it's a way for the government to encourage people to adopt EVs. That has helped Tesla a ton. It has also helped Tesla's competitors. And as my colleague Chris, as it was written many times, taking away the EV credit hurts all EV manufacturers, but it hurts Tesla less than it hurts Tesla's competitors, in part because Tesla's competitors have just been way behind in terms of the technology and streamlining their operations around EVs. So a company like GM or Ford is already losing money on its EV segment and would have to probably scale back its operations if that tax credit goes away, whereas Tesla would adjust well.
David Rind
00:20:41
So how much of Elon Musk is Tesla like? How existential is this for him if this slide keeps continuing? At what point does this become so much of a concern for his wealth and part of his empire, where he has to step in and actually pay more attention to what's going on here?
Allison Morrow
00:21:01
That's a great question. I mean, he owns 13% of Tesla, and the vast majority of Elon Musk's wealth is tied up in Tesla shares. So there's a huge incentive for him personally to kind of wake up and try to right the ship. Is this an existential threat for Tesla? I think it's early to say. There are some people who say this is the beginning of an end. If it doesn't turn things around, if it keeps going in the direction that it's been going with sales, with stock market not having confidence in it, then it could become a downward spiral.
David Rind
00:21:37
Well, Allison thank you.
Allison Morrow
00:21:38
Thanks, David.
David Rind
00:21:48
One thing is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by me, David Rind. Our senior producers are Felicia Patinkin and Faiz Jamil. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director. And Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN audio. We get support from Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Taylor Gargano, Nicki Brown, Madeline Stix, Augusta Anthony and Wendy Brundage. We'll be back on Wednesday. Talk to you then.
