European drugstore giant Rossman Announced No more Tuesday purchases TeslaThe company said it would immediately introduce electric vehicles to its fleet, citing CEO Elon Musk’s support for Trump.
Germany-based Rothmann said in a statement that the decision was “based on a discrepancy between statements made by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the values Tesla expresses in its products.”
“Elon Musk has made no secret of his support for Donald Trump,” company spokesman Raul Rothman said in a statement. “Trump has repeatedly called climate change a hoax. This stance stands in stark contrast to Tesla’s mission to help protect the environment by producing electric vehicles.”
Rothman buys about 180 electric vehicles a year and has only 38 Teslas in his fleet. Bloomberg — The company’s decision to halt all Tesla EV purchases shows that Musk’s political decisions are starting to affect automakers far beyond the United States.
Musk formally endorsed Trump last month and said he was donating money to America PAC, a pro-Trump group he helped found. Trump announced on Tuesday that Musk would be interviewing the former president.
During a debate with President Joe Biden in June, Trump Avoided the question When asked if he plans to do anything to combat climate change, Trump said, “I’m not going to do anything to combat climate change. I’m not going to do anything to combat climate change.”hoax.“He has also pledged to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Change Agreement if elected in November, just as he has done while in office.”
According to ongoing research Morning consultationUS Republicans have begun to view Musk more favorably following his leveraged buyout of Twitter (now known as X) in late 2022. However, this has not translated into an increase in “purchase consideration” of electric vehicles by Republicans. Musk’s reputation has declined among left-leaning voters, even though they are much more likely to buy EVs, according to the Pew Research Center.
Rothman’s decision comes in the wake of a recent investigation that said Tesla’s brand had been tarnished in part due to Musk’s “erratic behavior” and “political rants.” Tesla’s revenue grew 2% in the second quarter, but auto division revenue fell 7% to $19.9 billion from $21.27 billion in the same period last year.
Tesla is opening a factory in the German state of Brandenburg (outside Berlin) in 2022 and employs thousands in the country. Drugstore chain Rothmann reported that as of the end of 2023, it will have more than 4,700 stores and more than 60,000 employees, about half of whom are in Germany.
Tesla is facing protests from environmental activists in Germany who object to the company’s plans to cut down part of a forest in Brandenburg and use its water for manufacturing. Musk has blasted the protesters there. I said in March X They are “either the stupidest eco-terrorists on the planet, or puppets of people who don’t have good environmental goals.”
Representatives for Tesla, Musk and Rothman did not respond to requests for further details Tuesday morning.
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