“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything.”
“There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” Musk said.
“Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents.”
The remarks, which came ahead of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, were widely condemned in Germany.
The Tesla CEO’s behavior is “extremely damaging,” Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Center Automotive Research Institute in Germany, told the AFP news agency.
“Nobody wants to be associated with it… Tesla and
Musk are almost inextricably linked.”
Musk also drew criticism after making a gesture he made at US President Donald Trump’s inauguration resembled a Nazi salute.
The New York Times quoted Schmidt Automotive Research as writing in a report that German buyers “may well be reacting to Musk’s comments” about guilt about the Holocaust and the alleged Nazi salute he gave at Trump’s inauguration.
But others lay the blame squarely on the company itself.
The chief executive of research group New AutoMotive, Ben Nelmes, said that Tesla’s problems stem less from Musk’s actions and more from its failure to launch a new mainstream model since the Model Y in 2020, while rivals, including Chinese EV makers, have fresher products on the market.
“It’s not due to Musk’s views or British motorists’ views about Musk – they stopped innovating after the Model Y,” he said of Tesla.
With inputs from agencies
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Publish date : 2025-02-07 08:01:00
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