The CEO is absent, the stock is plummeting, and the brand is toxic. Tesla’s future looks grim.

Tesla stock plunged 15 percent on Monday, its steepest drop in five years. The price is down over 50 percent since its December highs. Tesla owners, disgusted with Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn tactics for the Trump administration, are selling their vehicles at a big loss. And Tesla showrooms across the country are becoming magnets for large crowds of protesters who want to see the company fail spectacularly.

But at least Musk can still count on one guy to have his back.

“I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???”

But it will probably take more than a Cybertruck in the presidential motorcade to make Tesla great again. It will take an actual commitment to more affordable electric vehicles. It will take a more serious and safer approach to driverless cars. And it may take a change of leadership to get the company back on track. Let’s run down the company’s problems.

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