Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) rolling out robotaxis in several Texas cities ahead of first-quarter earnings is a distraction for the company and comes as Elon Musk is hurting the company's brand value, wealth manager Ross Gerber told Benzinga in an exclusive interview.

Robotaxi Distraction

Tesla used to be a top holding in the AdvisorShares Gerber Kawasaki ETF (NYSE:GK), but the ETF managed by Gerber Kawasaki CEO and co-founder Gerber no longer holds shares of the electric vehicle company.

"Elon's changed the narrative around the company from being a climate change EV-focused battery storage services company like the Apple model we invested in and loved into this new model, which is transportation-as-a-service or robotaxi," Gerber told Benzinga.

Gerber says the new robotaxi rollout is a distraction ahead of first-quarter earnings, which gives Musk the ability to say the company has more cities open.  

"He's trying to distract people from the reality that the software is substantially behind where it needs to be to actually run a robotaxi service."

Should Tesla Sell EV Business?

In the past, Gerber has suggested that Tesla could sell more vehicles if it used a different name, like under the Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) brand. This comes as Musk has caused damage to Tesla's brand, according to Gerber.

Gerber said it's unlikely Tesla will ever sell its EV business outright, as it needs the cash flow to support other operations.

The wealth manager praises Tesla as the "best EV company in the world" during our interview, but questions why there have been few new models released and some are even ending production.

"They're discontinuing two of the best cars that have ever been made, which is insane to me."

Gerber argued that the Tesla badge itself has become the problem. “If they just renamed the Model S the Rivian Model P or whatever, people would buy the car,” he said. “It’s solely because it’s Tesla that people don’t buy the cars.”

He believes the reason why people buy fewer Tesla vehicles today is because of Musk. "Being associated with Elon is a toxic thing for your brand."

Gerber is the owner of several Tesla vehicles and a Rivian and admits that he likes the Tesla vehicles more, but he argues that Tesla today has negative brand value.

"Maybe if there was somebody else running this brand they would be way more successful again."

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