Tesla Has Totally Blown Its Loyalty Advantage

Not only did Tesla have a significant first-mover (or, maybe, fast-follower) advantage with electric cars, the company also collected a fiercely loyal set of buyers. This presented a real challenge for luxury brands as Tesla was mostly taking buyers from them and not giving them back. This was going to inevitably change as more electric cars entered the market, but the collapse of Tesla’s loyalty in the United States is the clearest sign yet of the damage Elon Musk has done to his brand.

The Morning Dump today will be all about second chances. One company that’s taken advantage of Tesla’s fall from grace has been General Motors. Don’t get it twisted, while GM will keep making electric cars, it’s shifting at least one plant in the United States from the production of EVs to gas-powered trucks. Ford is finally going to be building more cars in Europe again that aren’t just, you know, weird Volkswagens.

Renault has been the exception to the rule for mainstream European automakers, but the good times only last for so long.

Tesla Is Really Jack Pardee-ing It

 

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Do you want to relive some trauma with me? I don’t remember my dad crying a lot, though I’ll never forget the time on January 3rd, 1993, when the Houston Oilers blew a 35-3 lead in the third quarter of the AFC Championship to miss their spot in the Super Bowl to play the vile (to us) Dallas Cowboys. Some call this game “The Comeback,” though I’ll always think of it as “The Choke.”

I remembered this while looking at the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Brand Loyalty report, which looks at automotive brand loyalty. For years, no one has been even close to Tesla. The pandemic-related disruptions impacted most automakers as traditionally loyal buyers were happy to be able to take anything that was available.

Prior to the pandemic, slightly more than half of buyers (54.3%) were likely to trade their car for another from the same brand. That number dipped below 50% during the pandemic and has, finally, climbed back to close to normal through the first half of the year (53.3%).

There are two standouts in this report. The first is Toyota, which is now the most loyal brand through the first half of 2025, with 65.9% of buyers coming back to the brand. This is helped greatly by the RAV-4, with a brand loyalty of 69.4%. Once you go RAV-4 you never go back, I guess.

Tesla, though, has gone quickly in the other direction:

Tesla, for example, was in the number one position in 2024 with 60.9% brand loyalty. In the first half of 2025, Tesla has fallen to 7th with a rate of 54.2%. Tesla owners disposing of and replacing their Tesla vehicle with another electric vehicle have historically stayed loyal to Tesla 88% of the time. Those same owners are now only 75% loyal, increasingly choosing competitive electric vehicles from other brands.

This is helpful data. There was always some inevitability to Tesla losing market share as other companies caught up, and that has somewhat clouded the discussion over how much Elon Musk’s foray into politics was hurting the brand in the United States (it’s obviously happening in Europe).

The rapid speed with which Tesla has descended from God-tier loyalty to basically being like any other car company has no other real explanation at this point. A slow descent was what everyone had expected, and this is anything but slow. And, as the numbers show, it’s not just people deciding to buy a non-EV; the company is also losing traction with people who decide to buy another EV.

I’m anxious to see the earnings report from Tesla later this month.

And what about EVs in general? From the same report:

U.S. consumers are transitioning more slowly to electric vehicles than expected. At the same time, automakers are suffering from future unpredictability, plagued by policy changes at the federal level, emissions standards, the rollback of incentives, and governmental regulations. Consumers who remain brand loyal may elect to stay with an internal combustion engine over an EV model made by the same brand.

That’s a convenient transition to…

GM’s Orion Plant Is Going To Make ICE Trucks Instead Of EV Trucks

General Motors is adjusting its electrification plans, and, no surprise, this means that the Orion Assembly in Michigan will be shifting towards more future gas-powered truck production instead of, as initially planned, electric truck production. This is likely because the strong market for electric pickups hasn’t particularly materialized, plus the loss of tax credits for cars and a general change in environmental policy in the United States.

What will happen, it seems, is that GM will make the Escalade, Silverado, and Sierra at Orion. This will allow the company to produce more Suburbans/Tahoes/Yukons/Yukons XL at the company’s Arlington Assembly.

So what of all the money the company took to make electric trucks there? According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) still thinks the company is generally following the rules and shouldn’t have to give the $480 million in state funds back:

So far, no one has publicly called for GM to return any of the grant money, though the agreement contains provisions that if the company was to violate the terms, the state has the right to claw back the funds, according to GM.

“GM remains in compliance with their incentive agreement and we’re grateful for their continued commitment to creating jobs and investing here in Michigan, whether it be at the Lake Orion facility or at Factory Zero” in Hamtramck and Detroit, Courtney Overbey Martinez, vice president of communications for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said in a statement.

Well, that’s convenient. Orion does still assemble battery packs for EVs that are built at the company’s Factory Zero facility.

Ford Is Going To Give European Dealers Some Real Cars Again

I got to drive the Ford Puma ST when I was in England, and I loved that little hatchback. I would definitely rock one of those over here, though I doubt I’ll ever get the chance. It’s one of the few Ford cars produced in Europe for Europe, as the company has largely pared down the European-specific offerings.

There’s the Volkswagen-based Ford Capri, but the less we talk about that, the better.

Ford hasn’t given up on Europe yet and, per Automotive News, will start investing again in some real products for the market:

Ford CEO Jim Farley plans to develop new passenger cars in Europe again, dealers were told in a video conference by Christoph Herr, head of the brand in German-speaking countries.

In recent years, U.S. automaker has downsized its passenger car offerings in Europe to focus on its more profitable light commercial vehicles business.

The popular Fiesta small car was dropped, along with the Galaxy and S-Max minivans. The Focus compact car is due to go out of production in the autumn.

You know what deserves a comeback? The freakin’ Escort and the freakin’ Sierra. Make it happen!

Talk About A Bad First Day

When Luca de Meo left Renault as its CEO, he went out on a real high note as the company reported healthy margins and profitability at a time when everyone else in Europe seemed lost.

Maybe his sudden timing isn’t so curious now as Renault gets a new interim CEO in Duncan Minto. Here’s how his first day went, as reported by Automotive News again:

Renault Group’s new interim CEO, finance chief Duncan Minto, found himself explaining a profit warning to analysts on his very first day on the job on July 15.

Investors reacted strongly, with Renault’s share price falling 16 percent on early trading July 16.

It was the group’s first profit warning since former CEO Luca de Meo took over a money-losing automaker in July 2020, and it points to immediate challenges facing Minto and Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, who will co-direct Renault while it searches for a permanent top executive.

The cut was only from a margin of 7.0% to a margin of 6.5%, so it’s not quite that bad. Still, losing 16% of your value in one day is not great.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

I forgot that this was the Song of the Summer in 2013, or at least one of them. “Rude” by Magic! is definitely an earworm, but it’s also not anything I’d ever actively choose to listen to. The reason why it’s here is because I saw this Instagram reel in which a comedian notes that the song is actually about a Canadian fusion reggae singer being, frankly, politely denied a blessing from an uptight dad. I am Team Dad on this one.

The Big Question

Are you loyal to a brand? Which one?

Photo: Tesla, NBC Sports