Like the rockets that SpaceX launches and that sometimes fall to the ground, the Tesla brand has lost significant altitude this year. Sentiment towards the company is at an all-time low, and Tesla is ranked at a negative below EV maker VinFast. Vinfast, by the way, is a Vietnamese EV maker no one knows about.
Four months in the White House have greatly damaged the Tesla brand, but things may change soon. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, announced on his social media site, X, that he is returning to his business ventures. But Musk, like an earlier Henry Ford, has a lot of ground to cover if he wishes to restore the reputation of his company.
Synonymous:
Today, the Tesla brand and Elon Musk are synonymous. In earlier times, so was the name of Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company. It is not not first time that a motor company has stumbled, because of its leader’s outspoken political stance. But it will be the first time for the electric vehicle. Ironically, it was Henry Ford’s cheap, mass produced gasoline powered Model T that was the death knoll for electric cars, circa 1912. Musk’s Tesla shares a lineage back to the Model T.
Like Elon Musk, Henry Ford was super wealthy, venerated for building the people’s car, and a scion for American innovation and technology. Ford was also a political influencer, what we call a “thought leader” today. Tragically, he used his position to demonize the Jewish people and spew anti-semitism. Among his many hateful diatribes were that the Jews were the cause of World War I and manipulating a future economic takeover.
X Marks the News:
Both men recognized the power of the media. Ford bought his hometown newspaper, the Dearborn Independent and used it broadcast his viewpoints. Ford made sure that everyone who bought a model T was automatically subscribed to his paper. Musk, of course, owns X, the former Twitter.
Ford’s anti-semitic diatribe got re-packaged into books and these found their way into the hands of the 1920’s Nazi party. Henry Ford communicated with Adolf Hitler, but later tried to distance himself from that relationship despite helping with several manufacturing projects. A company called Ford Werke produced trucks and other equipment for the German military.
People’s Cars:
Ford’s other project with the Nazi regime harks back to his earlier automotive roots and bring low priced cars to the masses. Hitler wanted a simple, affordable car that would enable German families to travel and enjoy the country’s new road network called the Reichsautobahn. “The People’s Car,” debuted in 1938. The Beetle vehicle continued to be built after the war, and was even a best seller when shipped to the U.S. in the 1950s. Obviously extensive marketing rebranded its Nazi origins.
Repairing:
The parallels between Henry Ford and Elon Musk end here, particularly since Elon Musk has delayed the introduction of a $25,000 People’s Electric Car that would bring EVs to the masses. Still, the Musk thread bears watching in the coming months as he returns his attention to car-making, space launches, and other ventures. Like Ford, can he successfully manipulate his media platform to salvage his name and reinvigorate sales of Tesla vehicles? The stock price has already advanced. But some buyers will decry Teslas, much as religious Jews continue to shun buying Fords.
Since January 2025 EVs have lost three key supports: tax credits, infrastructure build-out, and clean-air mandates. The four months that Musk spent in Washington may have set the EV industry back four years. Or, more like the Henry Ford story, the EV industry and drivers will move on if Tesla pivots to something new. All may be forgiven and history rewritten if the launch of autonomous Tesla vehicles goes well.