Tesla’s sales have plummeted to their lowest level in three years in a surprise drop after a backlash against its boss Elon Musk.
The electric car maker delivered almost 337,000 electric vehicles in the first three months of this year, a 13% drop from a year ago.
Shares of Tesla tumbled after the release of the unexpectedly low sales numbers.
The cars face steepened competition from Chinese firm BYD, but experts believe Musk’s controversial role in the Trump administration have had an effect too.
The firm has blamed the drop on the transition to a new version of its most popular car.
However, there have been protests and boycotts around the world at Mr Musk’s outspoken and controversial political involvement.
Mr Musk has been heading up President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to cut federal spending and slash the government workforce.
The Tesla boss is the world’s richest man and contributed more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in November.
In recent weeks, Mr Musk poured millions into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, supporting former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel who was soundly defeated on Tuesday.
The backlash against Mr Musk has included “Tesla Takedown” protests at Tesla dealerships across the US and in Europe.
Tesla vehicles have also been vandalised, and Trump has said his administration would charge people who deface Teslas with “domestic terrorism.”
Musk’s stewardship of his businesses, including Tesla, has been called into question.
In an recent interview, he admitted he was running his enterprises “with great difficulty,” adding “Frankly, I can’t believe I’m here doing this.”
Shares of Tesla have lost more than a third of their value over the last year.
“We are not going to look at these numbers with rose colored glasses… they were a disaster on every metric,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note on Wednesday.
“The more political [Musk] gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate.”
