Would-be Tesla buyers snub company as Musk’s reputation dips, survey says
The ranks of would-be Tesla buyers in the United States are shrinking, according to a survey by market intelligence firm Caliber, which attributed the drop in part to CEO Elon Musk’s polarizing persona.
While Tesla continued to post strong sales growth last year, helped by aggressive price cuts, the electric-vehicle maker is expected to report weak quarterly sales as early today.
Caliber’s “consideration score” for Tesla, provided exclusively to Reuters, fell to 31 per cent in February, less than half its high of 70 per cent in November 2021 when it started tracking consumer interest in the brand.
Tesla’s consideration score fell eight percentage points from January alone even as Caliber’s scores for Mercedes, BMW and Audi, which produce gas as well as EV models, inched up during that same period, reaching 44 to 47 per cent.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. Musk in the past has blamed highinterest rates for curbing consumer demand for big ticket items like cars.
Caliber cited strong associations between Tesla’s reputation and that of Musk for the scores.
“It’s very likely that Musk himself is contributing to the reputational downfall,” Caliber CEO Shahar Silbershatz told Reuters, saying his company’s survey shows 83 per cent of Americans connect Musk with Tesla.
Reuters spoke to five marketing, polling and car experts who said controversies surrounding Musk’s increasingly right-wing politics and public statements are weighing on Tesla’s brand and demand.
“It is hard enough to win sales without getting into politics,” said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Economic fears, the lack of affordable new models and rising competition from cheaper rivals like China’s BYD have also been cited by Wall Street analysts as putting pressure on Tesla.
Overall electric vehicle sales in the U.S. are forecast to increase 15 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to estimates by researcher Cox Automotive. Tesla sales are projected to increase by three per cent.
“The EV slowdown is shaping up to be a Tesla slowdown,” Cox analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty said during a conference call Thursday.
New car registrations for Teslas in California — their biggest market in the U.S. — posted their first drop in over three years in the fourth quarter of 2023 even as EV sales rose overall.
At least five analysts cut Tesla’s target price last month, saying the automaker could post disappointing firstquarter delivery results. Tesla shares are down nearly 30 per cent year to date.
Musk’s outsized personality benefited Tesla as he promoted tackling climate change by reimagining cars as stylish, electric computers on wheels that could beat gasoline guzzlers in looks, performance and handling.
Tesla achieved breakneck annual sales growth for more than a decade.