Tesla dominates brand loyalty: once you go EV, you don’t go back

Tesla took half the awards for brand loyalty in the automotive industry in S&P Global Mobility’s new study.

Once you go electric, you don’t go back.

Studies have shown that electric vehicle buyers generally don’t go back to gasoline vehicles.

It wasn’t necessarily the case for some early EVs that had limitations, like the Fiat 500e, but Tesla has dominated the North American EV market for a decade now and it has enjoyed an incredible level of brand loyalty.

There have been indications that this has been slipping over the last few years, especially as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become more polarizing and more electric competition hits the market.

But a new analysis of 12.6 million new retail vehicle registrations in the US during the 2023 calendar year by S&P Global Mobility shows that Tesla is still dominant when it comes to brand loyalty.

S&P Global Mobility looks at households that own new vehicles and return to the market and acquire another new vehicle of the same make, model or manufacturer.

Based on that research, Tesla is dominating – taking four out of the nine loyalty awards for manufacturer and make:

S&P Global Mobility commented on Tesla’s performance:

Tesla’s popularity in the BEV sector helped the brand to success in both the loyalty and conquest space. For 2023, the Tesla brand scored repeat wins for ‘Overall Loyalty to Make’, ‘Highest Conquest Percentage’, “Alternative Powertrain Loyalty to Make’ and ‘Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make.’ The popularity of both the Model 3 and Model Y among current owners, along with the brand’s ability to attract many ICE customers to the BEV space, contributed to Tesla’s multiple awards for the second year in a row.

It is particularly notable that Tesla is able to achieve this performance as a relatively new brand in the space compared to most other companies having decades of reputations.

Electrek’s Take

I’ve owned 3 Tesla vehicles and I’m considering buying another one. That’s despite my auto wipers not working, Tesla not delivering the promised self-driving that I bought 5 years ago, and my disapointment with the company’s government.

The cars are so good that I’m willing to look past all that and get a new one.

So yes, I’m not suprised that Tesla is topping the brand loyalty list.