If that were the actual reason then why did the sales drop so much in the last month? Surely the new model Y has been coming for a while now, it is difficult to imagine that it would cause a >40% drop across the board from month to month.
Rather it seems very likely that Musk is extremely toxic to the brand at the moment. He is very closely aligned to a president who is actively threatening a trade war against the EU, after all. It would be weird if EU citizens just pretended that wasn't a thing.
I doubt it is the trade war. I think it is his attempts to interfere in European politics. Musk has done this in both the UK and Germany, and is signalling doing this in other places.
In the UK trying to help an extremist most people loathe (Tommy Robinson) is not going to make you popular. I am guessing that in Germany a lot of people loathe AfD so there is a similar, probably stronger, effect.
From a UK point of view, even if Trump imposes tariffs on our imports, that might be a problem, but it is not repulsive in the way backing an extremist is.
> why buy a Model Y in December at full price, when you can order the new version for the same price?
This take is not supported by the data. Used Tesla prices are crashing across the board. Sales are crashing across the board. Polls show clear negative sentiment towards the brand.
The old lineup isn’t helping. And yes, there will be a blip when the Y comes out. Tesla builds good cars and plenty of people buy on price and quality. But there is a reason most cars come in black, grey and white—consumers are conservative about cars as a statement about themselves. Owning a Tesla, today, is a political statement. Even among those who agree with Musk, most don’t want to signal that day to day.
Rather it seems very likely that Musk is extremely toxic to the brand at the moment. He is very closely aligned to a president who is actively threatening a trade war against the EU, after all. It would be weird if EU citizens just pretended that wasn't a thing.