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By Christine Chen and Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY (Reuters) - When Australian Dick Friend bought a Tesla in 2015, he was so impressed with its environmental credentials and performance that he and his wife bought two more of the electric vehicles, plus shares in the Elon Musk-led company.
Now, however, he is selling his Tesla stock and will not replace one of his cars, wrecked in an accident last year, citing his objections to Musk's right-wing tilt and his growing role in the administration of Donald Trump.
"The cars are brilliant, but we don't like the direction of the owner and we're voting with our feet," said Friend, who splits time between homes in Hobart and Melbourne.
Tesla sales in the four months since Trump's election were down 35% compared with the same time last year, according to data from Australia's Electric Vehicle Council, with a spate of vandalism in Australia and New Zealand over the last week also adding to evidence of contagion from Musk's role in the Trump administration.
A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla sales in the country were already down slightly before Trump's victory, with total sales in 2024 17% lower than a year earlier, in line with weaker sales globally.
Sales in Europe have also fallen amid Musk's support for far-right parties in Europe, Reuters reported last week.
Tesla cars and dealerships in Australia and New Zealand have been vandalised in the last week, echoing protests in the U.S.
Trump said on Tuesday violence against Tesla dealerships would be labelled domestic terrorism, as he appeared with Musk at the White House to select a new Tesla for his staff to use.
In the Australian state of Tasmania, a Tesla dealership was vandalised last week, with graffiti calling Musk a Nazi.
A spokesperson for Tasmania's state police said the force was aware of the incident and was seeking further information.
In a Facebook group for Tesla owners in Australia, several posters said their cars had been vandalised in recent months.
"We’ve had our Tesla Model Y for 2.5 years, and over the past six months, we’ve experienced increasing hostility on the roads," one poster said, adding she planned to sell her car as she no longer felt safe. "After speaking with the police, it seems Teslas are being targeted more frequently."
In neighbouring New Zealand, police said on Wednesday a 52-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday evening in connection with multiple vandalised Teslas in Auckland.
Declines in Tesla sales in New Zealand over the last year mirror those of the electric vehicle sector more broadly, according to data from the Motor Industry of New Zealand, following the removal of government subsides.
(Reporting by Christine Chen and Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Gerry Doyle)