There’s Elon Musk, wasting time endorsing Donald Trump while Tesla's share of US electric vehicle sales slowly falls below 50% for the first time in the three months to June.
Tesla accounted for 49.7% of electric vehicles sales from April through June, down from 59.3% a year earlier.
Its US sales fell 6.35 in the quarter, according to US industry data.
Tesla has fallen well off the pace of growth in the US – second quarter sales of EVs were up 11.3% to more than 330,000. EVs represented 8% of total US sales in the June quarter,, up from 7.1% in the first quarter and 7.2% a year earlier.
So much for all that talk from investors, brokers and business media about weak interest in EVs. EV sales were just about the fastest growing part of the US car market in the quarter.
Globally, Tesla is being overtaken by BYD, the Chinese EV giant which will regain the crown as the world’s leading producer of battery powered EVs by the end of 2024, while boosting sales of its plug-hybrids of which it is now the world’s leading maker.
From being the market leader, technology pacesetter and the leader of the EV transition, Tesla has slowed as Musk has been diverted by his silly takeover of Twitter, his space rocket business, his AI and associated companies and his increasing involvement in politics.
Fighting with shareholders over his pay and outrageous statements has also diverted his attention from Tesla where smaller rivals are now taking market share and his most important market, China, is under increasing pressure.
Updates of its core models have been slow in coming or non-existent, the expensive and hideous looking Cybertruck is selling poorly and needed two embarrassing recalls in June, sales growth has disappeared this year and momentum is only being maintained (at very low levels) through price cuts in the US, Europe, China and Australia, which is antagonising previous buyers.
The cheap Tesla 2 idea has still not made an appearance and Musk is reluctant to advance the idea – instead he is selling the concept of the Tesla Robotaxi which may not make its scheduled debut on August 8.
After being down 40% a few months, ago, a big surge in Tesla shares since June has seen that fall to a small rise of 1.7% at Monday’s close.
But that is still well behind the 18.7% rise in the S&P 500 and the 25% gain in the Nasdaq.
Tesla’s boosters have helped reverse the big sell off in the shares in the first quarter for non-Tesla reasons – such as his support for Donald Trump at the weekend.
A week today, Tesla's second quarter earnings figures will be released and even if they weak, investors will ignore them.
But they tell a story of a fading once dominant Number 1 innovator.
