Dan Kurland strolled out of the Rivian entertainment center in Laguna Beach, wearing a baseball cap with “Canada is not for sale” just above the bill.
The Aliso Viejo resident and his wife, Sue, were kicking tires on a recent Saturday, looking to replace each of their Prius models. On this day, the couple was considering the R1S SUV built by Rivian, the electric-vehicle startup based in Irvine.
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When asked if Elon Musk’s Teslas were under consideration, both shook their heads. “Since Elon went crazy when Trump became president, I wouldn’t touch one,” Dan Kurland said.
EV registrations and web searches to buy or lease Teslas have dipped since the world’s richest man took on a new role in Trump’s White House and began slashing federal government jobs, according to the auto analysts at Santa Monica-based Edmunds.
The Musk-Tesla backlash — with waves of protests targeting its facilities in the U.S. and Europe — is opening doors for EV automakers like Rivian to pick up market share.
Tesla jitters
On March 20, Musk reassured Tesla employees on an all-hands broadcast on X that the automaker was going through “a little bit of stormy weather.” The automaker’s shares have plunged nearly 50% since December, wiping out its post-election Trump bump.
Musk encouraged investors to hold their shares and joked that he can’t walk past a television without seeing a Tesla on fire, then said, “I understand if you don’t want to buy our product, but you don’t have to burn it down. That’s a bit unreasonable.”
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Tesla owners have been turning in their cars at record levels since Musk launched the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, according to Edmunds.
From Jan.1 to March 16, the automaker saw its highest share of trade-ins at auto dealerships, according to Jessica Caldwell, head of insights for Edmunds.
“These shifts in Tesla consumer sentiment could create an opportunity for legacy automakers and EV startups to gain ground,” Caldwell said. “As Tesla brand loyalty and interest wavers, those offering competitive pricing, new technology, or simply less controversy could capture defecting Tesla owners and first-time EV buyers.”
In February, the auto analysts noted that shopping for new Tesla models on the Edmunds’ website dipped to its lowest point since October 2022. “Tesla is seeing declining interest from shoppers who first consider competitor brands’ vehicles,” Caldwell said.
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Startups stepping up
Tesla owners exiting the brand are now the focus of smaller EV rivals.
Last week, the Swedish luxury EV-maker Polestar began offering a $5,000 incentive to lure Tesla owners to its Polestar 3.
While Rivian is a small speck in the EV market, its share is rising as the company led by RJ Scaringe gets production up at its Illinois plant and begins work on a second facility in Georgia. A $6.6 billion loan from the U.S. Energy Department and another $5 billion commitment from VW is helping push the new automaker off the assembly floor.
Tim Fallon, Rivian’s vice president of manufacturing, said last summer in an interview at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois, plant that the EV-maker had well over 100,000 pre-orders for its $45,000 R2 vehicle, which is due to market in 2026.
On Tuesday, Rivian said it expects to complete a sprawling expansion of its Normal factory before the end of June. The new capacity will help the company boost its annual capacity to 215,000 vehicles.
In January, Rivian reported it built 49,476 EVs in 2024 after lowering its estimate from 57,000 a few months earlier. The company blamed a component shortage that has since been resolved.
Tesla, which made 1.8 million cars in 2024, does not disclose pre-order numbers. In its 2024 fourth quarter results released Jan. 29, the company said it expects to grow production to 3 million vehicles or 60% over 2024 production.
Boutique sales
Like many startup EV makers, Rivian doesn’t sell its cars through a traditional dealership, but rather through community events — where they let potential customers test drive a vehicle — or smaller showrooms in Laguna Beach, Irvine Spectrum, Costa Mesa, Eastvale or Venice.
“Given its lower production volumes, increasing brand awareness is a crucial move for this relatively new EV manufacturer, particularly as it aims to capture more of the mass market with the R2 expected next year,” Caldwell said. “Rivian is currently focused on building up brand awareness, particularly in markets where there’s an established and growing interest in electric vehicles. While these initiatives aren’t necessarily a direct response to Tesla’s shifts in customer base, the timing is undoubtedly advantageous.”
In December 2023 — long before Musk joined Trump in the White House — Rivian opened its first showroom in Orange County in Laguna Beach in a renovated Vaudeville-era theater built in 1935. Two Rivian vehicles were parked in the old theater on Saturday.
This is where the Kurlands and others stopped to get a close-up look.
Dmitry Zagorodnyuk, executive manager of True North Heating and Air in Irvine, is looking at a Rivian SUV to replace his Tesla Model 3.
“I may trade it in if I can get a good deal,” said Zagorodnyuk, who crossed Tesla’s Cybertruck off his list though he’s not a Tesla-hater. “It’s too expensive.”
In the nation’s largest EV market, Rivian is picking up market share in California.
The automaker ranked eighth in EV market share in the state in 2024 — still far behind No. 1 leader Tesla, which sold more than half of all EVs, according to data provided by the California New Car Dealers Association.
“Tesla’s market share has dropped five quarters in a row. So that precedes Mr. Musk’s current controversies,” said Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association, a Sacramento-based trade group that represents 1,200 franchised new car dealers. “Tesla sales dropped in 2024 for the first time, ever.”
Tesla profit falls
The anti-Musk movement has been building since the billionaire’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now known as X, on Oct. 27, 2022. The world’s richest man has used the now privately held social media platform to ridicule critics and politicians while posting controversial tweets, memes and other tweets from X users.
Tesla saw profit of $7.13 billion in 2024, a decline of 52.4% from 2023’s $14.99 billion. Profit in 2023 grew 19.2% from 2022’s $12.58 billion, which was up 127.8% from 2021.
Maas attributes Tesla’s market share decline to its stale product line, not its CEO. The EV maker hasn’t introduced new models other than the Cybertruck, which has been beset with recalls and production challenges, he said.
“With the Model 3 and Model Y, Tesla’s top-sellers, there haven’t really been any major changes in the last three or four years, and in the auto business, if you’re not refreshing your model every year or two, you’re going to be beat by your competitors. I think you’re starting to see that for Tesla.”
Rivian, which makes R1S SUVs at a price tag of over $70,000, also plans to produce the R2, a smaller SUV, in Stanton Springs North, near the city of Social Circle, Georgia.
Spokespersons with Rivian and Tesla were not available to comment on their strategies in the market.
In 2024, California’s top-selling EV was the Tesla Model Y with 128,923 registrations, according to CNCDA. The Model 3 sedans were second with 53,056. The Cybertruck had 9,019 registrations.
Overall, Tesla had 52.5%, or 203,221 registrations, in California’s EV market in 2024, according to CNCDA. That represented a drop of 11.6% in registrations of 230,010 from 2023 when Tesla had a 60.1% share in California.
In comparison, Rivian had 12,020 registrations in 2024, a growth of 17% from the previous year’s 10,277 registrations, according to the CNCDA. Its market share grew from 2.7% in 2023 to 3.1% last year.
Competition heats up
Tesla is feeling more competition — especially, with companies like Rivian beginning to finds its footing after struggling for years with financing, layoffs and other pressures since its founding in 2009.
“Tesla has way more competition than they’ve ever faced before, and it’s putting a strain on the company,” Maas said. “There’s a certain segment of the market that’s interested in climate change, new technology. But that’s not 100% of the market.”
In February, Rivian recorded its first-ever quarterly gross profit to close out 2024, achieving a long-held goal even as it warned that policy shifts in Washington may weigh on its electric-vehicle sales this year.
“External factors could impact Rivian’s 2025 expectations, including changes to government policies and regulations and a challenging demand environment,” Rivian said on Feb. 20 . “Rivian’s guidance represents management’s current view on potential adjustments to incentives, regulations, and tariff structures.”
Still, some drivers are staying Tesla diehards.
Les Mustard, a Las Vegas resident, said that he’s owned three Teslas — including a Cybertruck that he currently drives — and has no plans to go with a Rivian vehicle.
“I’m 100% MAGA,” said Mustard, on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at the Rivian showroom in Laguna Beach.
“It’s the best car on the road, built by the smartest man on the planet.”