Two of the biggest market phenomena of recent years face serious challenges. For Tesla, growing competition from Chinese manufacturers is not the only problem. Elon Musk's growing involvement in politics has also damaged the company's image, especially in Europe and, more specifically, in Germany.
In February, Tesla sold just 1,429 cars in the “land of poets and thinkers,” down 76.3% from the same month in 2024, while total electric vehicle sales in the country grew by 31%. The decline is largely attributed to Musk's public support for the AfD party, which has led to a boycott by businesses and consumers.
In Australia, Tesla sales dropped 71% year-over-year, while in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, they fell between 42% and 48%. France saw a 26% drop, and most concerningly, in China — Tesla’s key market outside the U.S. — sales fell 49.2% in February to 30,688 vehicles.
Investor confidence has also weakened. Even Donald Trump's support for Musk has failed to stem the decline in Tesla stock. Any gains after the U.S. election have entirely disappeared. Worse, there are no clear catalysts for a turnaround as Tesla's long-promised autonomous driving technology remains unfinished.
Another big problem for Tesla is its reliance on selling regulatory carbon credits, which netted it $2.76 billion in 2024. If the company doesn't sell enough cars this year, it could fall short of the credits it pledged to other automakers, cutting off another crucial revenue stream.
Some still believe the stock could see a strong rally, but it's unclear what could drive that growth if not the long-awaited launch of Autopilot. At the same time, the U.S. trade war could trigger retaliatory tariffs, and Tesla could be in the crosshairs. So, the road ahead for Tesla looks more uncertain than ever.
As for Nvidia, this week marks its annual GTC conference, where investors expect to hear major updates on its product development and new launches. The problem is that none addresses risks such as U.S. export restriction, growing trade tensions, ns, and demand for Nvidia’s premium GPUs after DeepSeek’s success.
On Thursday, Nvidia will hold “Quantum Day,” focusing on quantum computing. Shares of quantum-related companies have soared ahead of the event. Still, it is unclear whether the optimism will last; as Jensen Huang said in January, practical quantum computing solutions could be 20 years away.
