OSLO, March 10 — Kia Norway has published an Instagram ad depicting the company’s EV3 model affixed with a bumper sticker saying “I bought this after Elon went crazy.”
The bumper sticker is a play on a similar one — “I bought this before Elon went crazy” — which some Tesla owners have affixed to their vehicles to distance themselves from the controversial politics of the company’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk.
Musk performed a Nazi salutes during Donald Trump’s inauguration day celebrations in January, triggering global outrage.
The salute as well as his controversial role as the head of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency”, so named to let it use the DOGE acronym after the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, has continued to alienate Tesla owners both in the US and abroad.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk performs a Nazi salute during the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. — AFP pic
According to a CarScoops report, Tesla sales in Germany plunged by 59.5 per cent in January 2025 and 76.3 per cent in February.
The company is also seeing a similar drop in Australia, where deliveries fell 65.5 per cent in the first two months of 2025.
Last month, the company’s sales in China fell 49.16 per cent, signalling a market share decline.
The effect on Tesla’s stock has also been significant, with its share price down over 30 per cent in the year to date.
