Elon Musk Has 55% Unfavorable Rating In New Poll: How Tesla CEO Could Be Hurting EV Giant's Future Sales

A push into politics and close relationship with President Donald Trump could be hurting the favorability rating of Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk and also hurting the electric vehicle brand.

A new consumer survey shows Americans are less likely to buy a new Tesla vehicle now due to Musk.

What Happened: A new poll from YouGov and Yahoo News could spell trouble for Tesla’s stock ahead of the company's first-quarter deliveries, which are expected later this week.

The poll, which was shared by Electrek, found that 67% of Americans would not consider owning or leasing a Tesla vehicle in the future.

The poll found that only 18% of American consumers surveyed would consider owning or leasing a Tesla vehicle in the future. The poll of 1,677 US adults conducted March 20 to March 24 found that 2% already owned a Tesla vehicle and 18% were unsure of owning or leasing a Tesla vehicle.

When asked why they would not own or lease a Tesla vehicle in the future, the poll found Musk to be the main reason.

"Is Elon Musk the reason why you wouldn't consider owning/leasing a Tesla," the poll asked. Here were the results:

• He is the whole reason: 20%
• Part of the reason: 17%
• Not part of the reason: 27%
• Not sure: 3%
• Not asked (own/lease or open to it): 33%

The poll found that Musk is the whole or part of the reason for 37% of consumers, which is rather large when factoring out that 33% were not asked due to being a Tesla owner or open to owning a Tesla. Musk was listed as “not part of the reason” by 27% of those surveyed, with another 3% not sure.

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Why It's Important: The poll found both Musk and Tesla to have favorable ratings of under 40%.

Musk received a favorable rating of 39%, with 55% ranking the CEO unfavorable and 6% saying they don't know.

For Tesla, the EV company had a favorable rating of 37%, with an unfavorable rating of 49% and 14% saying they don't know.

Musk scored a higher favorable rating but also had a higher unfavorable rating. Taking the favorable minus the unfavorable ratings, Musk had a net rating of -16, while Tesla had a net rating of -12. This gives Tesla a slight advantage.

When asked about Elon Musk's motives in his political efforts, 36% of respondents believed he was primarily trying to help the country, while 51% felt he was mainly acting in his own self-interest. The remaining 12% were unsure.

The poll was split fairly evenly by political party and some may be surprised to learn that there were more Republicans (32%) polled than Democrats (30%), with Independents (27%) making up the rest. The remaining 10% answered Other (2%) and Not Sure (8%) for political party.

Similar to a recent Benzinga reader poll, this poll comes after Trump bought a Tesla Model S and promoted the electric vehicle company publicly at the White House.

While the purchase led to a spike in interest on Google searches for Tesla, people may not be rushing out to buy a new Tesla vehicle.

“Donald Trump recently bought a Tesla. How does this affect your view of Tesla?” Benzinga asked.

Here were the results:

• I will never own a Tesla: 53%
• I’m more likely to buy a Tesla: 23%
• I’m less likely to buy a Tesla: 14%
• I already own a Tesla: 10%

The poll may have some bad news for Tesla fans and investors with the majority saying they will never own a Tesla vehicle.

The good news is that of undecided non-Tesla owners, 23% said they are more likely to buy a Tesla, while 14% said they are less likely to buy a Tesla on account of Trump’s purchase and sales pitch for the EV company.

TSLA Price Action: Tesla stock closed at $259.16 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $138.80 to $488.54. Tesla stock is down 31.6% year-to-date in 2025.

Tesla stock is trading slightly above where it was when Trump won the 2024 election. Tesla stock closed at $251.44 on Nov. 5 and opened for trading at $284.67 on Nov. 6 after Trump’s victory was confirmed.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.