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Tesla sales plunge after Elon Musk backlash

The car maker's sales slide has been attributed to competition and controversy around its boss.

In recent weeks, he poured millions into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race, supporting former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel who was soundly defeated on Tuesday. Tesla did not respond to the BBC's request for comment, but said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the numbers released on Wednesday "represent only two measures" of the company's performance and "should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly financial results." Following the release of Wednesday's report, Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers, one of the most powerful labour unions in the US, wrote to dozens of public pension funds about the state of Tesla, saying the company's latest sales numbers were "shaping up to be abysmal".

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