Elon Musk turns to Tesla's long-promised robotaxi debut in Austin amid falling sales, political missteps, and growing pressure from competitors.
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| Musk teases Tesla’s robotaxi debut to shift focus from recent setbacks, including a damaged brand image, lagging sales, and misfired political alliances. Image: Collected |
NEW YORK, United States — June 14, 2025:
Elon Musk is doubling down on spectacle to rescue Tesla’s sagging momentum. On June 22, the billionaire CEO plans a long-teased unveiling of Tesla’s robotaxi pilot in Austin, Texas. He describes the launch as “tentative” and safety-focused, but it may be his most calculated attempt yet to reboot Tesla’s narrative amid deepening investor skepticism and a tarnished brand image.
Once celebrated as the futurist behind the world’s most recognizable electric vehicle brand, Musk now finds himself under intensifying scrutiny. Tesla’s global sales have weakened in the face of aggressive competition from Chinese automakers, a lukewarm reception to the Cybertruck, and a model lineup that’s starting to feel outdated. The company’s stock has dropped 30% since December.
Yet Tesla’s challenges aren’t purely technical. Much of the public’s disillusionment has been fueled by Musk’s increasingly polarizing political profile. After positioning himself alongside conservative causes and pouring millions into GOP campaigns, including Donald Trump’s, Musk has alienated many of the progressive consumers who once embraced Tesla as a forward-looking lifestyle brand. The fallout worsened when Musk publicly clashed with Trump earlier this year, straining the very alliances he once courted.
Now, with Tesla’s image in flux and product delays piling up, the robotaxi serves not just as a tech milestone but as a PR pivot. Musk has spent years touting a fleet of fully autonomous Teslas as imminent. Yet while Alphabet’s Waymo already offers thousands of driverless rides each week in cities like Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, Tesla’s own “Full Self-Driving” software remains unfinished and controversial.
Analysts are already tempering expectations. Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research called the upcoming Austin event “a proof-of-concept, not a commercial launch.” That assessment is echoed by investors who recall last year’s “Cybercab” event, which was panned for vague promises and staged demonstrations, including robots that were later revealed to be controlled by humans.
Still, Musk’s ability to captivate the market remains potent — at least for now. His previous promises may have gone unfulfilled, but they’ve helped sustain Tesla’s mystique and market valuation. Whether this latest reveal can do the same is uncertain.
Adding to Musk’s reputational risk is his handling of X, formerly Twitter. Acquired for $44 billion, the platform was meant to evolve into a global “everything app” but instead became a lightning rod for criticism, losing both users and advertisers. Musk’s apparent efforts to reshape tech and media around his personal brand have met growing resistance.
“He’s got a problem,” former President Trump told CNN last week, referencing Musk’s unraveling alliances and sliding influence. “The poor guy’s got a problem.”
As the June 22 date approaches, all eyes will be on Austin — not just to see if the robotaxi drives itself, but whether Musk can steer Tesla back onto stable ground.