It would be interesting to see if the brand could be recovered if Elon left. I have to imagine a significant fraction of anyone still working there is still there because they're politically aligned with Elon, so, it might be difficult.
I think now that VW and Renault have their own very attractive options and the US is acting more and more hostile, even if Tesla was purged from Elon loyalists, why would anyone buy American if they can buy European?
Remind me who created VW again? Seems like that brand is rehabilitated...