Tesla’s brand loyalty suffers from Musk’s flirtation with Trump, survey finds

Once the darling of the electric vehicle (EV) universe, American carmaker Tesla has seen its popularity fall off the proverbial cliff, with new brand loyalty data suggesting that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s flirtation with American politics and US President Donald Trump has had a bad effect.

The data from research firm S&P Global Mobility, which was shared with Reuters this week, showed Tesla’s American customer loyalty peaked in June 2024, when 73 per cent of Tesla-owning households in the market for a new car bought another Tesla.

What was once industry-leading brand loyalty, however, began to slide in July of 2024 after Elon Musk endorsed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump following the first of two assassination attempts.

According to S&P’s data, Tesla’s brand loyalty slumped to a low of 49.9 per cent in March, below the industry average.

While S&P’s numbers don’t prove a direct link, the March slump matches up with the launch of the Trump administration’s so-called department of government efficiency which was headed up by Elon Musk.

In the immediate aftermath of Musk’s slash-and-burn tactics to reduce the size of America’s government, protests erupted across America and around the globe. Many Tesla owners even began treating their cars as damaged goods, selling them where they could, and rebadging them where they couldn’t.

Tesla’s sales also started to suffer, both in America and elsewhere, as people started to look to other EV brands.

According to S&P’s numbers, Tesla’s US brand loyalty has begun to tick back up, hitting 57.4 per cent in May, as Musk withdrew from the front line of politics, placing it above the industry average and around the same level of Japanese carmaker Toyota, but behind American carmakers Chevrolet and Ford.