Tesla owners are often referred to as part of a cult thanks to their unwavering support for the brand, its cars, and most importantly, its CEO, Elon Musk. The data backs that up. For years, Tesla owners were far more likely to buy another Tesla than to switch to another brand, often topping automaker loyalty charts. But no longer.
An S&P Global Mobility study analyzed by Automotive News shows Tesla’s brand loyalty has fallen off a cliff, tumbling over nine percentage points from the second quarter of 2024 to the same time period this year. Previously, 67.5 percent of Tesla buyers bought another Tesla, which made it the brand with the most loyal owners. Now, that number is just 58.1 percent, around the same as General Motors, but behind Ford, which now sits at 59.6 percent.
Hmm, what could’ve possibly happened in the latter half of 2024 and the first half of 2025 to cause this sudden attitude shift in Tesla’s ownership base? Oh, right: Musk got heavily involved in politics. Reuters got a look at similar data and came to the same conclusion I did:
That industry-leading brand loyalty rate started to nosedive in July, that data showed, when Musk endorsed Trump following an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on the Republican nominee.
The rate bottomed out at 49.9% last March, just below the industry average, after Musk launched Trump’s budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency in January and started firing thousands of government workers.
[…]
S&P analyst Tom Libby called it “unprecedented” to see the runaway leader in customer loyalty fall so quickly to industry-average levels. “I’ve never seen this rapid of a decline in such a short period of time,” he said.
It’s not just Elon’s actions that are causing people to turn away from the brand. It’s the cars themselves. Tesla’s lineup is dated and priced poorly for market conditions. That worked for the last decade, simply because the brand didn’t have many competitors, and the options that did exist were outclassed by Tesla’s battery tech and charging infrastructure. But times change. From Automotive News:
Loren McDonald, chief analyst at EV data analytics firm Paren, is trading in his Model Y for another brand this month after owning three Teslas. McDonald is leaning toward the Audi Q6 E-tron, a battery-electric crossover with a more luxurious interior and a cushy ride.
When he bought his first Tesla in 2016, a Model S sedan, there wasn’t anything like it on the market. But rivals are catching up.
“There’s so many good options today, and it’s only going to get better,” McDonald said.
[…]
“For a long time, Tesla was in a unique position,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars. “They were the only ones offering premium electric vehicles.”
Brauer said he remembered several years ago when BMW “was getting slaughtered” by Tesla conquests. BMW fought back and now makes compelling electric versions of its top models, he said.
Tesla’s falling market share coincides with its collapsing brand loyalty. Despite the EV market growing by 14 percent in August, Tesla sales only went up by 3.1 percent. The company’s market share of EVs is 38 percent—still huge, but a far cry from the 46.2-percent share it held in the second quarter of 2025.
The company’s aging lineup even has people switching back to internal combustion power, according to the S&P Mobility study. It makes sense—with no large SUV and no truly cheap vehicle in Tesla’s lineup, it’s impossible to keep every owner in the fold as their lives evolve (having children, different living situations, different jobs, etc.). From Automotive News:
“If they want a big vehicle, they may have to go domestic and gasoline,” Libby said. Tesla’s biggest crossover, the Model X, starts at $101,630 with shipping and is smaller than traditional SUVs. The automaker’s wildly styled Cybertruck pickup starts at $72,235 with shipping.
While 70 percent of Tesla owners chose an EV as their next car in the first half this year, 30 percent switched fuel types. “It’s surprising to see the number that are going to gas,” Libby said.
Tesla is attempting to counter this downturn with a cheaper Model Y set to arrive later this year. The brand is also betting heavily on its Cybercab two-door Robotaxi in 2026 to jumpstart its autonomous ride-hailing business. Whether either of those things will pan out is another story. Musk has a history of overpromising and underdelivering on product and timelines.
The company’s board of directors seems to have faith. Last week, it put forth a proposal for Musk’s pay that could, should he complete a set of seemingly impossible tasks, allow the South African CEO to become the world’s first trillionaire. So far, the numbers aren’t looking good.
Top graphic images: Ford; Tesla
If someone tells me they’re loyal to Tesla, I’m OK with that. If they tell me they’re loyal to Mr. Musk, I suddenly remember I’m late for an appointment. Most Ford pickup owners are hard core loyalists. I still carry a torch for Mustangs (cars). I get it. But the day they quit making Mustangs is the day Ford becomes irrelevant to me.
I love ford but with their quality becoming worst than Tesla and recalls being issued almost every day, I hate to say it but we’re deep in the new generation malaise era. Both brands deserve no loyalty.
When I did tech support for T-Mobile, I talked to the owner of Volvo of Lisle. Apparently, everyone at the dealership was issued a TMO phone, and text messages were the primary means of communication. T-Mobile decided they were SMS spamming and didn’t allow that account to send texts for a couple weeks. He invited me to come see him when I was next in the market for a new car and he’d cut me a deal on a Volvo or Polestar. I’d consider one of those if a BEV was practical for me, but I have no place to charge, so it’s Prii for me-ii.
ok?
I know many people who just go back to the same dealer, same sales guy, and say “I’ll take a lease out on a new version of what I have”
And they never shop around.
Madness.
But that’s what corporations want; they want you to go back to the altar of their brand and keep drinking the koolaid.
I was just talking to someone who’s shopping for a new Ford and having trouble finding one spec’d the way he wants. He looked around and saw one at a dealer about an hour away and went to the local place and said, “I want that one.” The local place basically said they don’t do business with that other dealer.
I’m like, okay, either you get me that one or I go up there and buy it myself. But he still thinks his car salesman gives a shit about him as anything other than an income stream, so he doesn’t want to do that. He’s a perfect example of what you’re describing.
Bring out the whale!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8P5vGcf-NU
I wanted an EV for my daily commuter. I went with the Mach E because it not only had what all I wanted, the build quality is better than Tesla’s based on my reading. Also, if I DO have an issue with it, Ford has more locations to have it worked on. Also, price was much better.
My wife’s car is a 2019 Expedition and has been pretty solid except for one wheel bearing that failed at 61,000….
This is interesting, but I would really like to know the margin of error before passing any judgement on whether Ford actually is more popular that GM. 58.1 vs 59.6 may not be statistically a large enough difference to say definitively.
There is also the issue of bias when people answer such a question. If a person spent their hard earned money buying an expensive car, it is takes a LOT for them to admit they would not buy the same make again. Saying they won’t buy the make means admitting they made a mistake with their decision. Folks have a very, very hard time doing that.
Heck Ford being only 9.6% above the average of 50% may not even be strongly statistically significant enough to indicate Ford is way ahead of the average. Tesla was always interesting as it was historically so much higher than any other brand ever.
We’ve been Ford people for a long time as my dad sold them forever. Between his retirement and my experience with our 2020 and 2021 cars, I am really looking to go Toyota or Honda. Maybe Lexus if I’m feeling fancy when we’re ready for our next cars.
My household bought a Honda, another Honda, a Mazda, a Nissan and most recently a Subaru. I’m Japanese loyal, because they make (in my opinion and experience) the best, most reliable, and overall most economical to own vehicles. Really like the new a Subaru, I’m planning another Subaru to replace my indestructible 23 year old Honda that refuses to die.
I WAS Ford loyal until they killed all the cars.
I like my Ford very much, and I’d planned to get my wife a Lincoln, but we ended up with a Mazda instead, continuing our streak of zero brand loyalty from one car to the next.
That said, I’m realizing now this is our 3rd Mazda in the 12 cars we’ve had together, just none back-to-back, and all different car classes (626, Miata, and CX-90).
“previously, 67.5 percent of Tesla buyers bought another Tesla, which made it the brand with the most loyal owners. Now, that number is just 58.1 percent,”
And that’s what ‘political blowback’ looks like.
Honestly, I’m a bit surprised that the drop wasn’t bigger.
It also doesn’t help that the new refreshed cars aren’t compellingly different
Yeah, they’re different-looking, quieter and rides better, has a better computer and slightly better range…but now there’s a LOT of other compelling competition, especially with the NACS standard
“So far, the numbers aren’t looking good.”
With Tesla and especially the Nazi fash boy Elon Musk any numbers *above* zero are too damn high; the numbers need to go negative…
My first car in 1983 was a 65′ Mustang, from that day I was a Ford fan. Then came the 5.4 Triton, that engine killed my support of the Blue Oval.
If you had the 2V or 4V/DOHC one, you would have been fine. But… you had the 3V one, eh?
I think the number of “I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy” bumper stickers I see on a daily basis speaks volumes.
I net a Cybertruck owner who had large magnetic placards on the doors and tailgate, “NOT INTO MUSK OR TRUMP- Looking for a Buyer.” He didn’t expect to find one soon, because, “I’m too far underwater on it.” He’d been an early EV adopter with several previous Teslas, and he was caught unaware.
Funny… the longer I own a Ford, the more I lust for a Toyota.
Every time I help a friend with their broken Ford product, I have a genuinely awful time, and then I hop back into maintenance on my Toyota trucks or other Japanese brand car, and it’s a truly pleasant experience. I’ve probably fixed a half dozen 10 year old or newer fords now, and they’re all broken in ways that are not acceptable for the age/mileage, and require some level of janky contortionist acts and bizarre tools.
I have two JDM cars, one from 93 and one from 96. To have a backup for times when one of them is off the road due to parts supplies, I bought an ’03 Ford Focus Wagon. It has spent way more time at the shop than both JDM cars combined, has cost me a lot more money in repairs, and it is also hard to find parts for it (there are no OEM motor/transmission mounts available) and issues keep coming back. It’s hands down the worst car I’ve ever owned.
Ford has some of the worst engine layouts (I am sure others have design issues too , such as the Optispark issue, and the Malibu’s heater core which is a PAIN). Everything is a snake pit.
Sadly, the newer 4runner and LC250 also have wires too…
And for the money Ford asks? Toyota is a better option.
I mean, Ford makes some products such as the Ranger Super Duty which is supposed to outperform the LC70. But, I am pretty sure at some point Toyota will add the LC300s diesel engine to the LC70 in a single turbo a couple of years down the road, if they see it as a threat.
The 70 series I will trust more than the Ranger SD, simply because it is far older. And, in Thailand, SE Asia, Africa, Toyota and Isuzu products are trusted more than Ford products.
I mean, Ford made great cars like the Crown Victoria, but still…
Huh. I’d have thought the cult of Subaru would be up there.
I would imaging it’s hard for Subaru to manage that level of loyalty, even though it seems like they would top that metric, if only because they don’t really compete in a number of segments. If a Subaru owner decides they wants a truck, they look outside the brand, for instance. Until recently Subaru didn’t even have a 3-row SUV, and they still don’t have a van, BOF SUV, etc.
And their 3-Row SUV is getting very outdated going on to model year 8 shortly with only a minor facelift since launch, and I thought it wasn’t particularly compelling when it launched. On the other hand, I know several people now who have had 2015-era Subaru that they’ve dumped and moved to other brands because they didn’t have a good ownership experience.
Huh, that’s weird, I wonder why.
Has anyone seen one of the new, standard Cybertrucks?
standard cab? standard transmission?
The cheapo model with 18-inch wheels; curious if they’re actually building any of these while they have tens of thousands of regular CTs in stock.
With black wheels (and not trying to give the owners the attention they want by looking too hard, though they’re also hard to look at), it would be difficult to tell the difference if that’s the only obvious outward sign.
There are a lot of incEl Caminos around here, but I can’t tell the difference between any of them and dumpsters with big wheels.
It’s not really a surprise why Tesla owners were so loyal: they’re normal looking cars with decent range & the software, and the charging networked just worked.
No goofy looking, short ranged clown cars that pee obsessed weird nerds would tell you is the only thing you need
No having to “plan better”
No needing a crap ton of apps when you went to Mee Maw and Paw Paw’s for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas.
No getting to chargers and having 2 out of 4 down or derrated.
No having to hold the plug the right way and do the pookie dance to get the charging session started.
FFS VW, Ford, Hyundai/Kia etc should have had much better software with as much resources as they have available to them.
I’m always surprised at how many people just get the same thing over and over and over and never shop the competition. My parents are one of them even. They are on like F150 number 5 and haven’t shopped a Silverado or Ram since they first started getting Fords. Every 3 years they turn in their lease and basically ask the dealer for a new version of what they had. If it’s on the lot, great, if not, they’ll extend their lease a few weeks/months to get what they want. They’ll never look at anything else and it’s insane to me.
Tribalism is alive and well in lots of parts of the human experiment. We have not been out of the caves very long.
my team (parsh) is best team (parsh)
(…but it’s especially true among truck folks. See also: Calvin of And Hobbes fame.)
I think it just confuses anyone with some interest in cars. Sometimes I wish I was that way. If you have something that has worked and don’t really care, why change? Example, my wife. She didn’t even test drive her Corolla, or her Camry, I did. I’m pretty sure her only requirements are an automatic, red, and a couple cup holders. I’m pretty sure I could take an entire wheel off and she’d just say something like “car felt weird today”. Simply an appliance.
Well said and that is why car lots are full of boring greyscale crossovers.
They like what they have and they aren’t interested in investing the effort required to find an alternative. I’m sure there are things in your life you feel that way about.
That’s how I shop for clothing!
Hey, if it fits, it fits.
(I hate shopping for clothes.)
The only part I question is not keeping it instead of continually getting a new one. For me, I know very well what I love (small number) and what I hate/have too little interest for a strong preference (large number), so when I find something I like, I stick with it and, though I keep my eyes open, I don’t seriously consider anything else and that doesn’t matter if we’re talking about cars or girlfriends (though it doesn’t apply to food). I don’t suffer from any FOMO, YOLO (I wish I believed that), or similar trite nonsense, and I don’t care if the neighbor’s lawn is greener and, even if I did, I know they put in way more effort than I could be bothered with in order to achieve it. Satisfied is satisfied, good enough is good enough, there are more important things to me than lawns, figurative or literal. This isn’t blind allegiance, though, if I have problems with something or the effort begins to exceed the reward, I look for something else or even do without it.
I would like to see them keep the F 150 long term. Changing cars everytime seems to us at least, a waste of money and resources.
Not falling far enough, I say.
Although, yeah, wow, Ford owners must be gluttons for punishment.
(Source: came from Ford family; would own another Ford E-series even if I concede I’m mostly a Toyota person now, otherwise)
I’m just shocked that many people continue to return to Ford products over and over again.
I wonder if fleets that buy 10 (or 100) Super Duties every single year without fail are counted in the numbers.
Ford seems to have a very strong fleet program without a doubt. I assume that’s why I saw more SDs in Boston, MA, when I last visited 2 years ago.
But generally,, I don’t think Fords are superior really to the competition.
They have a very broad product lineup and a vehicle for every possible niche, so that makes it easy for someone to get a vehicle that meets their needs without going outside the brand
I used to own a Fiesta ST and knew a few other owners too. Most were first-time Ford owners, and they eventually traded up to the Focus ST or RS. One got a Mustang GT, another one a Raptor
The brand loyalty stuff really works
Maybe if Tesla puts its finger back into the outlet it’ll defibrillate back to life. Or it’ll go from medium-rare to medium-well. Only one way to find out.
I’m shocked! Ok, I’m not that shocked.
I’m surprised that they’re at industry average.
Given all the news stories about their plummeting sales numbers, I would’ve expected it to be lower than average.
I’m sure for some people that genuinely like their Teslas, replacing their appliance EV and dealing with moral quandies of the dipshit CEO is probably easier in their minds than taking a risk on another automakers EV, especially since there’s not a whole lot of options in the Model 3/Y space.
And then there’s the contingent that doesn’t care. And the contingent of people who are still rabid Musk fans and probably admire everything he says. While yikes, the numbers still probably add up.
I’m not a Tesla owner, nor an elon simp, but I see the appeal in the cars. They have a lot of small quality-of-life features that other cars don’t seem to have, and it’s hard to let those things go once you get used to it
For me, that dumb little QOL feature is the green light chime
They’re getting there, but there’s a lot of momentum behind those numbers. That’s also Q2 and they’re on a downward trajectory. They barely got a bump from the rush of EV buyers trying to head off the tax credit expiration.