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While the electric vehicle (EV) market continues to grow, Tesla remains unique in having brand fortunes tightly tied to its head honcho and\u00a0not-a-founder<\/a>. Years ago, Elon Musk\u2019s personal brand was mostly positive, with many comparing him to Marvel hero Tony Stark\/Iron Man as a wunderkind scientist, engineer, and business genius, the man who not only saves us from climate change, but gets us to Mars. The Musk hype gave the then-nascent Tesla a supercharged boost.<\/p>\n However, as time passed, Musk\u2019s reputation continued to take hits as his (likely<\/a>) drug-addled missteps tarnished his comparisons to Iron Man. And as Musk\u2019s personal brand fortunes went, so have Tesla\u2019s.<\/p>\n More recently, Musk\u2019s political interloping as Trump\u2019s right-hand ghoul at the helm of the dodgy DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) has led to\u00a0protests<\/a>\u00a0outside his car company\u2019s showrooms and even Tesla\u00a0vandalism<\/a>. Tesla\u2019s sales have\u00a0nosedived<\/a>, especially\u00a0overseas<\/a>, despite an increase in overall EV sales. All this has happened while Tesla\u2019s highly anticipated (and extraordinarily late) Cybertruck ended up being a\u00a0dud<\/a>, a poorly designed vehicle that can\u2019t do truck things, like towing, off-roading, or\u00a0not snapping in half<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n