Tesla CEO says the EV company’s sales are already improving, reaffirms ‘robotaxi’ service next month

Elon Musk speaks Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk said he planned to cut back on his political spending and spend more years leading the EV maker, boosting the company’s stock on Tuesday.

Musk was the biggest donor in last year’s election cycle, contributing $291 million to groups supporting President Donald Trump or other Republican candidates, according to data from watchdog OpenSecrets.

Many investors, particularly retail investors, have been clamoring for Musk to spend more time at Tesla, whose brand has been hurt by Musk’s political leanings and deep involvement in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE.”

Tesla’s stock ended 0.5% higher on Tuesday after being up nearly 4% intraday. The S&P 500 index traded lower and ended a six-session winning streak.

The stock’s gains had accelerated as Musk, in his second interview of the day, said on CNBC that he has seen a “major rebound in demand” for Tesla vehicles.

He brushed off the backlash and reaffirmed the start of Tesla’s “robotaxi” services in Austin, Texas, next month.

The service, which will be restricted to certain areas at first, or geofenced, will start with about 10 vehicles. But it will ramp up to “about 1,000” vehicles in the next few months and be available in other U.S. cities, Musk said.

The CEO went on to reaffirm plans to have 1 million self-driving Tesla vehicles on roads by the end of next year, a business model he called a mix of Uber Technologies Inc. and AirBnb Inc. Musk madesimilar claims in 2019 for 2020.

After Trump’s victory in the 2024 White House race, the Tesla boss — who is also the CEO for SpaceX and ranked as theworld’s richest person— continued to support Trump by spearheading DOGE.

That sparked some Tesla analysts and investors to ask Musk to spend more time at the automaker’s facilities rather than in Washington, D.C., viewing DOGE as an unwelcome distraction.

Musk’s comments on Tuesday, which also came during a video interview for an event in Qatar earlier on Tuesday, are a fresh indication that he’s becoming less focused on U.S. politics.

When asked whether he sees himself committing to Tesla for the next five years, Musk said “yes,” and when pressed further said that that would not be the case only if he were to die before then.

Tuesday’s promise follows Musk’s saying in late April that starting this month his “time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly.”

“Musk’s five-year commitment to Tesla is a positive in that it secures his future with the company through the end of the decade and comes at a critical time, as we think the second half of this decade will be dedicated to growing its autonomous vehicle, robotics, and energy storage businesses,” CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson said.

The backlash against Musk and DOGE included numerous protests at Tesla facilities worldwide, occasional vandalization of Tesla vehicles and charging stations, and even altercations between protesters and Tesla owners.

Tesla’s stock is down about 13% this year, compared with an advance of 1% for the S&P.

In terms of political spending, Musk said that he expects “to do a lot less” of it in the future. “I think I’ve done enough,” he said during the Q&A for the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

When asked if the decision on spending was due to blowback, Musk responded: “Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”

Musk also said he’s spending about one or two days a week on U.S. government work and pushed back on the view that Tesla is struggling with declining sales. “It’s already turned around,” he said.

When asked about weakness in Europe in particular, the Tesla boss said Europe is the company’s weakest market.

“We’re strong everywhere else, so sales are doing doing well at this point,” he said. “We don’t anticipate any meaningful sales shortfall, and you know, obviously the stock market recognizes that, since we’re now back over a trillion dollars in market cap.”