Cathie Wood Says Brand Damage Has Happened For Tesla But Believes It Isn't Long-Term: 'Tesla...Will Have A Lock…'

ARK Investment Management LLC's founder, Cathie Wood, agrees that Tesla Inc. TSLA has suffered brand damage owing to CEO Elon Musk's close ties with the Trump administration as well as his activities with DOGE.

What Happened: "Brand damage, yes it has happened," Wood said in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.

However, she doesn't believe that the damage is long-term. "Tesla, we believe, will have a lock on the robotaxi business in the U.S.," Wood said. She then highlighted the company's upcoming robotaxi launch in Austin next month and reiterated her optimism.

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"We believe they're going to proliferate through the United States. Especially if we move regulation from a state level to a federal level, which we believe will happen," she shared.

"What also hurt were macros," Wood said as she transitioned into the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's auto tariffs on the sector at large. She also acknowledged Musk's move away from DOGE as important. "The shock value of what he did was important," She shared.

Why It Matters: Wood's comments coincide with Tesla's imminent robotaxi launch in Austin in June, which had come under the scrutiny of the U.S. NHTSA as the agency was seeking details on Tesla's AVs in various weather conditions.

However, industry expert and Future Fund LLC's Managing Director, Gary Black, expressed concerns about the launch and whether the analysts' expectations were too high for the debut.

Elsewhere, Tesla is offering lucrative deals to ride-hailing service Lyft Inc. LYFT drivers for buying Tesla cars in the form of credits and incentives on all of the company's products, including Model 3, Model S, Model Y, Model X, and the Cybertruck.

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