Elon Musk has confirmed his intention to continue leading Tesla for at least the next five years.

Speculation had been building around whether Musk's focus on the electric vehicle brand had been impacted by his affiliation with President Donald Trump and his role working to improve efficiencies within the US government.

Musk took part in a Bloomberg moderated session via remote video link at the Qatar Economic Forum where he was asked whether he is committed to lead Tesla and whether he would be in the position by 2030. 

He simply replied: "Yes."

Musk was keen to state that he doesn't want his position as chief executive at Tesla to be threatened or ousted by "activist shareholders".

He was also asked if his involvement with US politics and the reaction it has sparked would make him think twice about further involvement in this area.

Referring to the vandalism against Teslas and Tesla showrooms, Musk said: "I did what needed to be done. I'm not someone who has ever comitted violence and yet massive violence was committed against my companies, massive violence was threatened against me.

"To the people involved, don't worry, we're coming for you."

Tesla sales dropped by 30% across Europe to 27,828 units in March, but the decline is starting to slow.

Despite the negative trend, the 30% drop experienced in  March was less severe than those recorded in January (a drop of 47%) and February (down 44%).

When asked about the financial markets' reaction to Tesla's share price drops and falling sales in Europe, Musk said: "Europe is Tesla's weakest market, but the brand is strong everywhere else.

"Sales have fallen in Europe, but that's true of all manufacturers. There's no exceptions.

"The European car market is quite weak."

It was then put to Musk that some customers are now putting stickers in their cars to make it clear "I bought a Tesla before I knew Elon Musk was crazy" and that the brand has been damaged, which is impacting sales in areas like Europe.

Musk replied: "There are also people buying Teslas because they think Elon is crazy, or however they might view it.

"Perhaps we've lost some sales on the left, but we've gained them on the right.

"Our sales numbers are strong and we see no problem with demand.

"You can just look at the stock price. If you want the best insider information, the stock market analysts have that. We wouldn't be trading near all time highs if things weren't in good shape.

"They're fine. Don't worry about it."

Professor Jim Saker, regular Automotive Management contributor and president of the Institute of the Motor Industry, shared his views on the future of Tesla and the impact Musk is having on the brand as part of our Executive View series.