Commentary
To Save Tesla's Brand, Musk Must Hand Over the Keys
- by Allen Adamson , April 15, 2025
Cars aren't just products -- they're badges that reflect a driver's identity. When David Ogilvy famously advertised Rolls Royce by highlighting the quiet ticking of its dashboard clock, buyers weren't purchasing silence; they were signaling success. Great brands understand that product features justify emotional decisions -- but ultimately, consumers buy what brand association says about them.
Tesla once exemplified this understanding, symbolizing innovation, technology, and environmental responsibility. But today, Tesla faces a profound brand crisis because the company's identity is inseparable from its controversial founder, Elon Musk.
Musk is undeniably a relentless innovator -- he famously slept on the factory floor during production crunches. Yet Tesla’s current challenge isn't rooted in product issues. Product problems are fixable; Johnson & Johnson demonstrated this decades ago with Tylenol. Tesla's real problem is Musk's tarnished public image, something he's ill-equipped to repair.
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Recent demonstrations across the U.S. explicitly targeting Musk, alongside President Trump, reveal how deeply Musk's divisive persona affects Tesla’s reputation. Musk’s political antics -- funding polarizing election campaigns and headline-grabbing stunts -- have further eroded trust in the brand.
Even if Musk stepped away from the spotlight, deleted his X account, and completely withdrew from political controversies, restoring Tesla's brand would be a slow and uncertain process. Brands damaged by negative associations rarely bounce back quickly, if at all. But more realistically, Musk is unlikely to retreat fully. He appears addicted to fame, likely more distressed by losing 500,000 followers on X than losing $200 billion.
The dilemma Tesla faces is stark. Musk’s association is toxic to a significant portion of potential buyers, steadily undermining the brand. Yet, Tesla’s stock valuation still relies on the "Musk Magic." If Musk exits completely, the stock price will collapse even faster than its current steady decline.
The only viable option may be for Musk to retain a stake but hand operational and selling ownership to new leadership -- someone credible enough to stabilize and rebuild the brand. However, Musk’s ego and attachment to control make this unlikely. Tesla is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place: Musk’s continued presence damages the brand, yet his departure risks immediate financial turmoil.
To genuinely save Tesla, Musk must hand over the keys, stepping aside enough to allow new leadership to restore credibility without completely removing the Musk Magic premium. Whether Musk is capable of this nuanced move remains the real question -- and the future of Tesla’s brand depends on the answer.
The argument paints a dramatic picture of Tesla’s supposed brand crisis, but it’s mostly built on speculation and emotion rather than actual evidence. Sure, some people buy cars as status symbols, but the majority of Tesla owners are drawn to the brand for its cutting-edge technology, performance, and range — not just to make a statement. Tesla’s dominance in the EV space, consistent delivery growth, and strong margins say a lot more about its brand strength than a few loud voices on social media. Yes, Elon Musk is a polarizing figure, but that’s not exactly new — and it hasn’t stopped Tesla from becoming the most recognizable EV brand in the world. The idea that Musk’s presence is solely dragging the company down doesn’t hold up when you look at the data. In fact, the stock’s valuation is still largely tied to investor confidence in Musk’s long-term vision. It’s contradictory to say he’s both toxic and essential, and it leans heavily on the assumption that all consumers and investors are driven by the same political concerns. At the end of the day, people buy Teslas because they’re fast, innovative, and practical EVs — not because they’re casting a political vote. If Tesla ever falters, it won’t be because of Musk’s tweets; it’ll be because someone finally built a better product, and so far, that hasn’t happened.
Tesla quarterly sales plunge as Musk backlash grows
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-set-report-drop-q1-deliveries-weak-demand-musk-backlash-2025-04-02/
Tesla sales tumble as Musk backlash, competition and aging lineup turn off buyers
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/tesla-sales-tumble-as-musk-backlash-competition-and-aging-lineup-turn-off-buyers
Elon Musk Backlash Turns Into Global Sales Slump for Tesla
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/business/tesla-sales-elon-musk.html (paywall)
The response provided is polite and balanced, but not quite in the precise voice of Allen Adamson. Adamson’s voice typically emphasizes succinct points, straightforward analysis, and sharp insights about brand fundamentals and marketplace realities.
Thanks for sharing your perspective—I appreciate your thoughtful comment.
You’re right: Tesla originally succeeded by introducing the first meaningful auto innovation in decades, enhanced by its rapid-charging network and Elon Musk’s image as a relentless innovator. But fast-forward to today: the Cybertruck, Tesla’s latest product, has stumbled badly in terms of production quality and market reception. Tesla cars no longer lead the market in range—competitors like Lucid Air and Mercedes EQS have matched or exceeded Tesla’s performance. Meanwhile, Tesla has pulled back its aggressive rapid-charge network expansion, further weakening a crucial advantage.
When you factor in Musk’s distraction from daily operations and his divisive behavior—polarizing nearly half the country—the numbers tell a troubling story: European sales are down significantly, as are U.S. sales. Without investors clinging to Musk’s promise of future breakthroughs in self-driving technology, any other corporate board would likely be thinking about taking away his keys.
Thanks again for weighing in—I always welcome thoughtful discussion about these brand challenges.
Well, I used Claude to clean up my late-night iPhone typo-filled comments.....and there i no editing option,,,,,
Thoughtful article. Brand damage is indeed devastating and extremely difficult to recover from. For the record, however, the author is yet another victim of the often untrue narrative as well as outright lies as regularly offered by the Muskrat. "Tesla was originally founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Musk joined later, led a major investment, and used strategic moves and legal maneuvers to rewrite the narrative and establish himself as a co-founder." (Economic Times, March 22, 2025)
I'm not sure if your AI response was to me or the person posting links, but based on the content I'll assume it was in respone to me.
For starters, like many recent pieces on MediaPost, your article frames the entire narrative through a political lens rather than focusing on actual consumer behavior or market performance. It reads more like an opinion piece aimed at discrediting Musk than an objective analysis of Tesla’s brand.
Starting with the Cybertruck, it's not designed to be a mass-market product — it's a statement piece, intentionally radical. The idea that its unique design or early production quirks define Tesla’s overall health is a stretch. As for competitors “matching or exceeding” Tesla’s range — a few luxury models on paper may show longer EPA numbers, but they come at much higher prices and lack the real-world efficiency and charging infrastructure that Tesla still leads by a mile. Tesla’s Supercharger network is still the gold standard and is now opening to other automakers, turning a former moat into a toll booth. That’s not pulling back — that’s monetizing an industry lead.
Now, on Musk being distracted or polarizing: has that stopped Tesla from executing? No. The company keeps hitting production milestones, expanding globally, and maintaining margins other automakers can’t touch. Sales dip in one region? It happens. But Tesla’s long game isn’t built on a single quarter or an X trend — it’s built on manufacturing scale, software integration, and full vertical control. You can dislike Musk, but if the claim is that Tesla’s losing its edge, the facts don’t support it. Strip out the political baggage, and Tesla is still running laps around most of the industry.
Calling the author a “victim” of Musk’s narrative is a reach. Musk didn’t invent his co-founder status—it’s legally recognized and based on the fact that he funded, led, and scaled Tesla when others couldn’t. The fixation on who founded it misses the point: without Musk, there likely wouldn’t be a Tesla at all.