'I'm ashamed to drive it': Could Elon's antics be the beginning of the end for Tesla as fans fight among themselves and company ranking drops below Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai?

Elon Musk's antics are causing division among Tesla fans in Australia, with dedicated Facebook group members turning on each other over the CEO's actions, with some defending Musk while others declare they're ashamed to drive their Tesla.

It's the latest in a string of setbacks for the EV brand, which has faced slowing sales in Australia and globally, increased threat from Chinese brands, and was recently ranked behind Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai in the 2025 Brand Finance report.

Globally, in 2024 the brand's deliveries fell for the first time, down one per cent to a total 1.79 million. In Australia, the fall was steeper, down 16.9 per cent to 38,347 sales.

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Compiled by the eponymous London research and consulting firm, the Brand Finance report looks at more than market capitalisation, instead surveying some 175,000 respondents on things like brand value, reputation and company image.

The 2025 result saw Tesla slip to fourth in the auto rankings.

“There are people who think (Elon Musk is) wonderful, but many that don’t,” said Brand Finance CEO, David Haigh

“If you are buying electric vehicles, his persona is highly likely to impact your view of whether or not you want to buy one of his company’s cars, but that’s only one of many factors.

"Unless Tesla can come up with a whole range of new products that will really excite consumers, and unless they can mitigate some of the antagonism caused by their leader, they will be seen as past their peak and will begin to go down."

And now Musk's very public antics are causing divisions among the brand's fans in Australia, with dedicated FB groups seemingly split over whether Musk's recent string of controversies – throwing his support behind known climate change denier Donald Trump in America's presidential race, executing what has been interpreted by some as a Nazi salute at a Republican rally, and reportedly laying the blame for the Californian wildfires at the feet of female firefighters, either because of the colour of their skin or their sexual orientation, to name but a few – would stop them buying another Tesla.

"I love the car, but I’m ashamed to drive it. Will look to trade it when I can afford to," one user wrote – a view shared by other users.

Other users say they are turning to bumper stickers that read "I bought this before Elon went crazy" to let their feeling be known.

But others still defend the company's boss, declaring Elon a "a once in a generation entrepreneur and leader - transformational, visionary, inspirational, unstoppable" and declaring the negative feedback a "leftist, false narrative".

All of this comes as Tesla prepared to launch its most important model –a refreshed Model Y codenames Juniper that should launch in Australia around the middle of the year.