Tesla Problems: Beyond Elon Musk

Friends help each other out. Tesla’s boss, Elon Musk, may well have been grateful when Donald Trump said he would buy one of its electric vehicles (EVs) on March 11th. Yet that was the least the president could do for his bureaucracy-basher-in-chief. The day before, Mr Trump had helped bring on a fall of over 15% in Tesla’s share price, amid a wider sell-off sparked by his trade policies and his warning that America’s economy faced a “period of transition”. The subsequent Trumpian endorsement will not be enough to apply the brakes to Tesla’s declining sales and slumping share price.