It was not that long ago when Tesla viewed advertisements with a haughty disdain worthy of a Creole aristocrat. However, in the face of a sustained demand slump and the attendant production-related exigencies, the EV giant appears to have finally capitulated.
Elon Musk laid prepared the ground for Tesla adverts in last week's annual meeting of the shareholders by declaring that "Tesla will start advertising a little."
Drive to believe——why she chose Tesla? ❤️ pic.twitter.com/LXtGl15QUy
— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) May 19, 2023
Today, we got the first glimpse of this sea change in Tesla's strategy when a two-minute advertisement appeared on Twitter Asia. At the time of writing, the ad has been viewed by 467,000 people, which is nearly three times the number of followers that Tesla Asia – an official subsidiary that posted the advert on Twitter – can boast of.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether today's move constitutes merely the first drop in the proverbial bucket or simply an aberrant development.
Cc @Keubiko $TSLA https://t.co/7iAwwc7WSF pic.twitter.com/FXNLUXBtSt
— fly4dat (@fly4dat) May 23, 2023
Nonetheless, the company continues to suffer not only from demand-related malaise but also tarnished brand image. Consider the fact that Tesla lost 50 places in this year's Axios Harris Poll of 100 brands, managing to grab only the 62nd place in the just-published ranking.
"FTX and Tesla, once seen as shining examples of innovation and opportunity, took two of the biggest reputational hits in this year's Axios Harris Poll 100 brand reputation survey."
Meanwhile, as we noted in a previous post, Tesla's Q1 2023 earnings were the worst in the past 15 quarters.
More interestingly, $TSLA was the only carmaker to see prices fall 9% QoQ vs double-digit increases at VW, Nissan & $HMC or an overall 8% avg rise in industry prices. $TSLA basically started a price war with itself. https://t.co/qVLZYzHImz pic.twitter.com/yQW5E2DIbg
— Motorhead (@BradMunchen) May 23, 2023
The company's quarterly revenue fell by around 7 percent on a sequential basis, spurred by a widespread price cut of between 12 and 15 percent during Q1.
https://twitter.com/MoneybaII_R/status/1660967650607120388
The situation for Tesla in China remains in a state of flux. The company delivered 10,200 units in China in the week ending on the 21st of May, constituting an increase of 2.10 percent from the previous week.
Based on last week's @Tesla insurance numbers from China, we are already halfway through the month to our best May ever. 🇨🇳 https://t.co/0BrHV49gJL pic.twitter.com/M8WzKkg00X
— Roland Pircher (@piloly) May 23, 2023
Tesla is likely to record its best performance ever in China for the month of May.
I believe that @piloly does a disservice to bulls. Yes, it may be a record May, but flat MoM at best (and exports in April, bro!). Come June, what will the narrative be? Supply isn't an issue. June will be down big YoY w/o deep price cuts. $TSLA https://t.co/e63qZiocVy
— fly4dat (@fly4dat) May 23, 2023
However, storm clouds continue to persist, as explained in the tweet above. Given the steep discounts in China, the company barely makes any money on the Model 3 and Model Y sales. This is likely to keep pressurizing Tesla's margins.
Against this backdrop, mass advertisements remain the most convenient option for the EV giant to spur additional sales.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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