US President Donald Trump said he would purchase a Tesla to keep at the White House for the use of his staff in a sign of support for Elon Musk, after shares of the electric-car maker had their worst day in four years amid a growing backlash over Musk’s political allegiances. Five of the automaker’s vehicles — encompassing the range of models currently available — were presented to Trump on the driveway ringing the South Lawn of the White House. He ultimately settled on a red Model S. Trump said he wanted to pay full price for the car and praised Musk as a “patriot” who he said was being unfairly maligned for his slash-and-burn effort to reduce government spending. “Our country is going to be very strong, very smooth, because of a lot of the things that he’s done,” Trump said, crediting Musk for his ability to “find billions and billions and billions of dollars of fraud and waste.” Trump announced his intention to buy a car overnight, after Tesla shares had tumbled 15% on Monday after analysts including UBS Group AG’s Joseph Spak cut delivery projections. Wall Street had already begun downgrading their price targets on the stock and lowering earnings estimates. Shares rebounded 5% on Tuesday.
via bloomberg: Trump Shops for Teslas at White House to Back Elon Musk
siehe dazu auch: Tesla loses $127 billion in one-day market bloodbath as China car group questions Musk’s pursuit of ‘personal glory’. Tesla’s bad start to the year keeps getting worse. The EV maker’s shares sank over 15% on Monday, bringing its total 2025 losses to over 40%. Monday’s plunge erased about $127 billion from the carmaker’s market value. Tesla has now lost all its gains since November’s election of Donald Trump to the presidency. China EV stocks, on the other hand, had a relatively good day, even after the bloodbath in U.S. markets. EV giant BYD notched a 1.3% rise in Hong Kong, bringing its year-to-date gains to just over 35%. Li Auto, a major producer of plug-in hybrids, rose 2.3%. Xpeng’s Hong Kong shares jumped an impressive 8.7%, one day after the chairman said the Tesla competitor will start mass production of its flying car by 2026. The broader Hang Seng Index pared back morning losses to end the day flat. Elon Musk’s EV maker faces fierce competition in China, compared with its home market of the U.S. Cars from BYD are more affordable, while startups like Nio and Xpeng offer advanced features and software, like driving assistance. Tesla only got permission to launch its own driving assistance features in February. Tesla reported a steep 49% year-on-year decline in China sales in February, though the drop was exaggerated by the U.S. carmaker pausing production ahead of a revamped Model Y release. BYD’s February sales, on the other hand, rose by 161% (though that figure may have been artificially inflated by 2024’s late Chinese New Year). BYD was just around 25,000 cars shy of overtaking Tesla to be the world’s largest seller of battery EVs in 2024.
