Survey found 94% Germans won’t buy Tesla due to Elon Musk; then this happened

The reputation of billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla has taken a severe hit in Germany. A recent poll conducted by a German publication T-Online showed that a staggering 94 per cent of respondents were unwilling to buy a Tesla car.

As per reports, the poll, which initially gathered responses from 100,000 persons painted a grim picture for the company. Only three per cent of participants expressed interest in purchasing a Tesla.

Tesla’s popularity falls: Is Elon Musk the reason?

The decline in the company’s popularity has largely been attributed to CEO Elon Musk’s controversial political statements. His association with US President Donald Trump, and endorsement of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has alienated potential customers in the country.


The poll results came amid mounting woes of the electric vehicle company. Tesla’s sales in Germany plummeted by 70 per cent in the first two months of 2025 in spite of a 27 per cent rise in the country’s overall EV market.

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Poll results flip after massive vote surge from US

As per a Hindustan Times report, a week after the initial results, the T-Online poll took an unexpected turn. The number of participants surged by 370 per cent. The number of respondents jumped from 100,000 to over 467,000. Suddenly, 70.1 per cent of respondents said they would consider buying a Tesla and the number of those rejecting the brand fell to 29.2 per cent.

The drastic shift flagged concerns, prompting T-Online to probe the incident. Their findings revealed that 253,000 votes—more than half of the total—originated from just two IP addresses in the United States.

The publication speculated that the poll was manipulated due to the discrepancy. The reversal happened only after the poll was widely being shared on Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter).

The publication subsequently suspended the poll and removed it from its article. They acknowledged the likelihood of targeted interference.

Is Tesla's future in Germany at risk?

With its sales declining and public opinion against Musk worsening, Tesla has a tough road ahead in Germany, stated another report in Euro News Weekly. It stated that the impending launch of the new Model Y could likely give the automaker an opportunity to recover some lost ground.

However, some auto analysts remarked that undoing the harm to Tesla’s reputation will be a Herculean Task, the report added. Whether German shoppers will look beyond the scandals and reassess Tesla is unclear.

FAQs

What's driving Germans away from Tesla?
Tesla's dropping popularity in Germany is due to the political controversies surrounding CEO Elon Musk, and his support of Donald Trump and the far-right AfD party. Tesla sales have fallen sharply as competition from other EV makers is on the rise.

Why was the T-Online poll suspended?
The survey was halted after it was found during an investigation that more than 253,000 votes originated from only two IP addresses in the US, which indicated potential tampering.