Massachusetts residents aren’t buying Teslas like they used to, and experts are attributing the dip in sales to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly visible role in right-wing politics.
According to data provided to GBH News by automotive industry research firm S&P Global Mobility, registrations of new Tesla vehicles in Massachusetts were down sharply in January and February — 19% and 11%, respectively — compared to the same time last year.
Tesla still made up the largest share of the commonwealth’s new electric vehicle registrations, according to the data. But that share was smaller than any month last year as sales of competing EV manufacturers, such as Ford, Volkswagen and Hyundai, held steadier.
The numbers fall in line with national trends. Tesla saw its largest drop in vehicle deliveries in history for the first three months of 2025. The company’s stock lost more than half of its value in March.
Economic analysts believe the dip is a direct result of liberal disdain for Musk, who has taken on a prominent role in President Donald Trump’s administration with the Department of Government Efficiency.
“The meaning of a Tesla has moved very much from one that’s more aligned with liberal ideologies towards one that is more aligned with conservative ideologies.,” said Carey Morewedge, who chairs Boston University’s marketing department and studies consumer behavior.
Morewedge said owning a Tesla used to be a form of virtue-signaling for affluent, liberally minded consumers. The car’s instantly recognizable design, he said, communicated that a driver cared about reducing carbon emissions and saving the world.
Now, that notion has been flipped on its head.
“That’s why driving around Boston, you see all these bumper stickers that say things like, ‘I bought this before I knew how terrible he was,’” Morewedge said.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. The new sales data comes amid widespread backlash against the company and its CEO. Some Tesla owners across the commonwealth have been scrambling to sell their vehicles for months now.
The backlash has, at times, turned violent, including in Massachusetts. Last week, police arrested and charged a man for allegedly vandalizing several Tesla vehicles at a dealership in Peabody, causing an estimated $500,000 in damage — one of several incidents that prompted the FBI to launch a task force investigating attacks against Tesla. Senior Trump officials like FBI Director Kash Patel have called these attacks against Tesla “domestic terrorism.”
According to Morewedge, it’s difficult to imagine Tesla winning back consumers. The company would have to either distance itself from Musk or double down on products like the CyberTruck , which he said didn’t appeal to left-leaning consumers in the first place.
“Tesla might end up moving his portfolio more towards the kinds of vehicles that would align better with the ... base of customers who would be interested in supporting Elon Musk,” he said. “But the majority of their products don’t fall under that umbrella. So if Tesla’s really going to change the way people are perceiving it, it’s going to have to change social groups with which it’s associated.”
