Tesla has suffered unprecedented market losses to start 2025, with nearly half of the company's value wiped out in just a few months.

Credit: AFP
As reported by Business Insider, Tesla was valued at $1.54 trillion in December 2024, but as of March 2025, that number has dropped to $777 billion - a staggering 49% decline.
JPMorgan analysts call it one of the largest and fastest stock crashes in automotive history, saying they struggle to find a comparable event in terms of both scale and speed. The closest examples, they note, were Japanese and Korean automakers losing sales in 2012 and 2017 due to diplomatic disputes with China. However, they highlighted that Tesla's decline is global, not confined to a single market.
"We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly," the analysts wrote.
While global EV demand may be a factor due to Tesla facing more competition - the biggest issue appears to be Musk's political involvement with the Trump administration. His role in the Department of Government Efficiency has drawn criticism, not only for the controversy but also for concerns that he's becoming distracted from Tesla's operations.
Backlash has been growing across the U.S. in response to Musk's politics, with protests and vandalism at Tesla stores increasing in recent weeks. The controversy escalated further after President Trump publicly defended Tesla, going as far as suggesting that protesters could be labeled as "domestic terrorists."
As a result, JPMorgan has lowered its forecasts for Tesla by 41%, while also predicting an 8% drop in vehicle deliveries compared to last year. Despite the doom and gloom, some analysts still see long-term potential in Tesla's upcoming projects, which include the robotaxi rollout in Austin, and a Optimus humanoid robot demonstration later this year.
However, if Musk's political ties continue to polarize, and sales don't recover - it could spell disaster for Tesla.