'It's not ideal': Tesla Australia details plan to mitigate Musk madness as BYD and other Chinese brands circle the new Tesla Model Y

Tesla Australia has conceded that brand's new status as as one of the world's most controversial car companies is impacting its results in Australia, telling CarsGuide that "things outside our control...are influencing some of the sales figures."

So said Thom Drew, Country Director for Tesla Australia, who also detailed the local strategy to mitigate the impacts.

While studiously avoiding mentioning Elon Musk by name, Mr Drew was asked directly whether it was frustrating to find himself helming the local arm amidst a steady-stream of controversies.

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"I don't know if I'd define it as frustrating," he replied. "I think in my experience for 10.5 years here, I've seen ups and downs of our brand and people's perceptions of us and EVs and whatever that may be.

"And look, it's not the ideal scenario that we're in right now, but I think our focus on the product and how wonderful it is and how it really does solve the needs of our target segment is something that we're going to be pushing very strongly to make sure that the market remembers that, and try and get it back on point to product-focused," he said.

The timing couldn't be worse for Tesla, with sales slipping just as competition from China heats up. Last month, the Model Y was topped by the BYD Sealion 7 as Australia's best-selling EV. Meanwhile, Tesla owners are slapping bumper stickers on their own vehicles promoting a variation on the theme that they bought it before Elon Musk's tilt into right-wing politics – a situation Mr Drew again described at "not ideal".

Asked if he had a plan to mitigate the impact of Musk and the US more generally on the brand in Australia, Mr Drew confirmed that a new-look marketing team would be focusing on the company's product, not its people, to help cut through the noise.

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"Look, we have recently expanded our marketing team, and we want to do a better job of educating around our products, and EVs in general," he said.

"So really bringing it back to product, and even our heritage. I know it seems like a funny thing to say, but our 15-year heritage in Australia is something to differentiate us from all the competition that's coming in. Obviously, we understand the market.

"I think there's a lot of things going on in the world that are outside of our control that are influencing some of the sales figures at the moment. I'd like to think that...it is a strong enough product that we can remind the market of why we're number one, why it has been the world's best-selling car over the past few years, and hopefully get us back there."