Elon Musk to scale back DOGE role to prioritise Tesla; EV maker’s stocks plunge | Here’s what he said

Elon Musk said he will start to “significantly” pull back from his work with United States President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from next month, and spend “far more time” at the Tesla office.

“I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Elon Musk said during an analyst call on April 22. Tesla released its Q1 results yesterday, to lukewarm reactions initially, before the stock rose 3.8 per cent at 6.14 pm in extended New York trading.

Notably, while the stock was up 5 per cent intra-day, it is still down more than 40 per cent for the year, according to an AP report.

Tesla Sales in Freefall, Profits Tank 71%

Tesla recorded lower sales numbers and reported a 71 per cent drop in profits and a 9 per cent decline in revenue for the first quarter. The EV major also reported adjusted earnings of 27 cents per share for Q1, below the average analyst estimate, while omitting an earlier prediction that sales would return to growth for the full year.

Tesla sales have taken a hit due to boycotts and protests against Elon Musk for his role in DOGE, which has slashed federal government funding for country-wide programmes and initiated job cuts affecting thousands.

Here's What Elon Musk Said:

Speaking during the conference call, Elon Musk told analysts, “Now that the major work of establishing DOGE is done, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla starting in May. I now expect to spend just a day or two per week on government matters.”

On future plans and what investors can look forward to, Elon Musk said, “There will be millions of Teslas operating autonomously in the second half of the year. Can you go to sleep in our cars and wake up at your destination? I’m confident that will be available in many cities in the U.S. by the end of this year.”

Tesla on Donald Trump's Tariffs Impact — Details

Further, the AP report noted that Tesla in its release said that Donald Trump's auto tariffs will hurt the company “less” compared to others, as it makes most cars domestically. It did however admit impact from tariffs on some materials which are impored.

Tesla also warned that the Trump tariffs will hit its energy storage business, too.

(With inputs from AP)