Model Y cars are pictured during the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022.
Patrick Pleul | Swimming pool | Via Reuters
The European pharmacy giant Rossmann was announced Tuesday will no longer buy Teslaelectric vehicles for its fleet, will take effect immediately, citing CEO Elon Musk’s pro-Trump political support.
Germany-based Rossmann said in a statement that its decision was “based on the incompatibility between Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s statements and the values that Tesla represents with its products.”
“Elon Musk makes no secret of his support for Donald Trump,” Raoul Rossman, a company spokesman, said in a statement. “Trump has repeatedly described climate change as a hoax – a stance that stands in stark contrast to Tesla’s mission to help protect the environment through the production of electric cars.”
While Rossmann only buys about 180 electric vehicles a year — and only had 38 Teslas in its fleet according to Bloomberg — The company’s decision to cut all Tesla EV purchases shows that Musk’s policy decisions are beginning to affect the auto industry far beyond the U.S.
Musk formally endorsed Trump last month and said he is contributing funds to a pro-Trump group he helped found called America PAC. Musk is also scheduled to interview the former president, Trump announced Tuesday.
During a debate with President Biden in June, former President Trump he avoided questions about what it would do, if anything, to combat climate change. And Trump called climate change “scam.He has also promised to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, as he did during his presidency, if re-elected in November.
According to ongoing research by Morning Counseling, Republicans in the US began to view Musk more favorably after the acquisition of Twitter (now known as X) in late 2022. However, this did not lead to an increase in Republican “perceptions” of electric vehicles here. According to Pew Research, Musk’s popularity among left-leaning voters has declined, even though they are much more likely to buy an EV.
Rossman’s decision follows a recent investigation that found a deterioration in Tesla’s brand, attributed in part to Musk’s “antics” and “political rants.” While Tesla’s revenue rose 2% in the second quarter, the automaker’s revenue fell 7% to $19.9 billion from $21.27 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
Tesla opened a factory in 2022 in Brandenburg, Germany (outside Berlin) and employs thousands in the country. At the end of 2023, the Rossmann pharmacy chain reported that it had more than 4,700 stores and more than 60,000 employees with about half in Germany.
Tesla faced protests from environmental activists in Germany who disagreed with the company’s plans to cut down part of a forest and use the water for production in Brandenburg. Musk attacked the protesters there, telling X in March they are “either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or they are puppets of those who have no good environmental goals.”
Representatives for Tesla, Musk and Rossmann did not respond to requests for further details Thursday morning.
