Would-be Tesla buyers snub company as Musk's reputation dips

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Would-be Tesla buyers snub company as Musk's reputation dips

Hyunjoo Jin and Nick Carey
Mon, April 1, 2024 at 6:07 AM EDT·5 min read

SAN FRANCISCO/LONDON (Reuters) - 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 as Tuesday.

Caliber's "consideration score" for Tesla, provided exclusively to Reuters, fell to 31% in February, less than half its high of 70% in November 2021 when it started tracking consumer interest in the brand.

Tesla's consideration score fell 8 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 44-47%.

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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/tesla-buyers-snub-company-musks-100751650.html

[farmbo]

1. Return Tesla buyers are also vanishing.

I’m a 5 year Tesla owner. I actually love their handling and reliability, but they couldn’t pistol whip me to buy a second one.
For a progressive, climate conscious owner to purchase a car from Elon 2.0 would be akin to a Jewish family buying a Ford from hard-on antisemitic Henry Ford in the 1940s.

[hurl]

2. I bought a non-Tesla EV

Last edited Sat Apr 13, 2024, 08:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Mainly because I just couldn't stomach supporting Elon in any way, but also because it is a traditional carmaker with dealer support in the unlikely event something goes wrong - in addition to the many reports of quality issues with new Teslas.

On the whole, EVs require much less maintenance than traditional cars, and this is my second EV, so I have some experience in this realm. I have a position of privilege to own a home charger, so the EV experience is more suited to my lifestyle. I completely understand those who are not in a similar position and find EVs to be more trouble than they're worth.