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Tesla’s resilient brand loyalty proves good products still drive sales (Op-Ed)

Credit: Tesla

Published

2 years ago

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A quick look at the electric vehicle community’s sentiments about Elon Musk on X and platforms like Reddit would suggest that the CEO’s increasing political nature has now become Tesla’s largest liability. Yet as per S&P Mobility, Tesla’s brand loyalty is still incredibly strong. This suggests that even in today’s social media-driven landscape, good products still drive sales and loyalty. 

Tesla’s resilient brand loyalty

In its post, S&P Mobility noted that among individual brands, “Tesla continues its run as the leader in brand loyalty with a rate of 67.8% for the first half of 2024.” Vince Palomarez, associate director of loyalty product management at S&P Global Mobility, also noted that Tesla’s customer loyalty has remained constant. 

“Tesla has historically been a brand with strong loyal ties among their consumer base, despite a limited product portfolio. Changes in BEV prioritization among other OEMs, along with Tesla’s directive to cut pricing when needed, has kept households from defecting,” Palomarez noted.

S&P Mobility’s findings are extremely interesting as social media trends and media reports have practically been unanimous about the idea that Elon Musk has become poison to Tesla’s brand. As per Palomarez, however, the data does not support this narrative–at least for now. 

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“We can only report on what we see in the data. In this instance, there is some decline in Tesla’s loyalty for the first half of 2024 vs. 2023; however, it is below one percentage point,” he said, noting that Tesla is still clearly beating other brands. “The brand still remains the industry leader in brand loyalty by a healthy margin. For comparison’s sake, the industry brand loyalty average stands at 52.5% for H1 2024 and no other brand has a loyalty rate above 60%,” the S&P Global Mobility associate director noted. 

Good products drive sales and loyalty

Perhaps one of the reasons why Tesla still sees strong brand loyalty among consumers is the fact that the company produces good products, from its electric vehicles to its battery storage systems. Even if Tesla’s vehicles have been beaten by other competitors when it comes to range, efficiency, and 0-60 mph times, the company’s vehicles offer the best value for their price. 

A good example of this is the re-engineered Tesla Model 3 Performance, which is an absolute steal at $55,000 for the performance, tech, safety, comfort, and features that it offers. The same is true for the Tesla Model Y, which has effectively outsold its rivals in the all-electric crossover SUV segment despite having the same exterior design since its March 2019 unveiling event. 

Consumers gravitate towards good products, leadership be damned. A look at the strong sales in the United States of the Volkswagen Beetle Type 1, a vehicle whose creation was driven by Adolf Hitler’s desire for a people’s car, proves this. The Volkswagen Beetle Type 1 became extremely popular in the United States in the 1960s, less than two decades after World War 2. All in all, almost 5 million Beetle Type 1 units were sold in the United States out of a total of 21.5 million cars worldwide. Part of the reason behind the Beetle Type 1’s success in the U.S. is due to the fact that it is just a great, bang-for-the-buck car.

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The list goes on. Ford’s founder, Henry Ford, held deeply antisemitic views. He even brought a local newspaper to publish his own anti-Semitic writings. Ford has thrived despite its founder’s questionable ethics, and the company still produces the best-selling car in the United States today–the F-Series pickup trucks. The 47-year reign of the F-Series as America’s best-selling vehicle could be attributed to the fact that they are just great trucks.

Most amusing is the Reimann family, which owns a controlling stake in JAB Holdings. In 2019, it was revealed that the Reimann family had close ties to the Nazi party. Despite this, one cannot deny the fact that JAB Holdings’ brands, which include Krispy Kreme, Jimmy Choo, and Pret-A-Manger, are still loved by consumers because of their quality and consumer appeal. 

Elon Musk’s tweets

There is no doubt that since acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk has become far more willing to share his views on a number of issues, from US and international politics to gender ideology. There is also no doubt that the negative slant in media against Musk and his companies is at an all-time high. The Guardian, just last week, published a guide on how to “rein in” Elon Musk by boycotting Tesla, having foreign governments threaten to arrest Musk, suing the CEO under Section Five of the FTC Act, and terminating contracts with SpaceX. 

Musk has always attracted negative media attention, but not at this level. 

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Considering the nature of Musk’s posts, it is no surprise that some consumers would indeed not purchase Teslas due to the CEO’s social media posts. But ultimately, sales and brand loyalty are a game of numbers. There is a vocal portion of the car-buying community who are extremely open about not purchasing Teslas due to their dislike or hatred of Musk. However, the lines between the EV sector and the greater automotive market are growing thinner. Thus, more regular car buyers may simply be looking at Teslas because they need a car. For such consumers, the politics of Tesla’s CEO may not be a consideration at all. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Investor's Corner

Lucid denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop

Published

14 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: Lucid

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.

Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”

Twork said:

Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.

Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.

Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.

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Tesla owner attempts resale of Model S Signature Edition for over $260k

Published

17 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

A Tesla owner who purchased a Model S Signature Edition, one of the final 250 units of the all-electric flagship vehicle that the company discontinued earlier this year, is attempting to sell the car despite a no-resale clause that prohibits reselling for the first year.

The car is being sold by J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, and is priced at $260,490, well above the $159,420 that Tesla sold it for earlier this year.

To those who do not know, the Model S Signature was a highly exclusive, limited-run farewell variant of the Model S Plaid that was produced this year to mark the end of production of both the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s two flagship vehicles.

Limited to just 250 units with invite-only sales, it serves as a collector’s item celebrating the legacy of the Model S, which helped pioneer Tesla’s electric vehicle success since its 2012 launch.

It bundles top-tier performance with bespoke cosmetic and luxury upgrades, plus Tesla’s Luxe Package. Here’s what the Model S Signature has over the typical Model S Plaid:

  • Exclusive Exterior – Unique Garnet Red Paint, matching door handles, gold Tesla “T” badges upfront, gold Plaid and Signature badging at the rear.
  • Premium Interior – White Alcantara upholstery with gold piping/accents, gold Plaid seat badges, Signature-marked door sills, individually numbered dashboard plaque, gold puddle lights, special interior lighting sequence, and a custom Signature key fob.
  • Performance Upgrades – Carbon-ceramic brakes with gold calipers
  • Bundled Luxe Package – Full Self-Driving (Supervised), four years of Premium Connectivity, free lifetime Supercharging
  • Performance Metrics – ~1,020 horsepower, sub-2-second 0-60 MPH, ~390-mile range

Tesla quickly introduced a No Resale Agreement for the Signature Editions of the Model S and Model X, which would penalize the seller for “the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.”

The company continues:

“If you sell or otherwise transfer the ownership of your Model S or Model X, the remainder of the Recommended Maintenance, Wheel and Tire Protection Plan, and Windshield Protection Plan will transfer automatically to the buyer. The Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity will not transfer with the vehicle and will terminate once the ownership of the Model S or Model X is transferred.”

Tesla will likely come after the seller, especially as it has been about two months since Tesla launched deliveries.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Early Impressions: new features and early performance

Published

21 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.5 yesterday, and about fifty miles of driving on the new version has given me enough time to highlight what seems to be strong about the release and what is not.

Additionally, Tesla has added a few new features with this specific update, which we’ll highlight as well.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Performance

The new update is business as usual. Things seem to be running completely normal and necessary, but there are a few things that we’ve seemed to pick up on based on our own experience with v14.3.5, as well as what other users are seeing.

Initially, it seems to be more aware of its surroundings, making moves that are incredibly courteous to other drives and operating just a tad more reserved than what the suite might have done previously.

We had two instances where it showed this, the first being FSD needing to pass a Flagger Force vehicle that was placing down signage for the day. Their work truck was right at the front corner of a right-hand turn; typically where most cars travel when they take that turn.

FSD v14.3.5 recognized this, slowed down, and took the turn wide with no issues:

Additionally, v14.3.5 backed up for a semi truck that was making a wide turn onto a road my car was on. This is not new, but it seemed to be backing up for courtesy; it didn’t seem completely necessary, but it might have put some peace of mind in the truck driver’s head:

X user Mike P, also a Pennsylvania native like myself, shared three clips of his Tesla running v14.3.5 performing similar maneuvers. He said:

“FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.”
Check it out here:

It seems like Speed Profiles are still in need of some tweaking; I am adjusting what Speed Profile I’m in frequently, constantly changing it to get it to travel at the correct speed. This was an issue for me on v14.3.4. It seems like they’re just a little inconsistent.

Terrible Parking

Parking attempts on v14.3.5 were not good. There are quite a few people who have said this:

David Moss, the Tesla owner who has taken multiple coast-to-coast drives without any interventions, also has had some issues with parking early on with v14.3.5:

New Features

Tesla has added the ability to open Camera Preview at any time. Previously, it was only available in Park. Here’s what that feature looks like in action:

Check back later this week for a longer review of what we’ve noticed on Full Self-Driving v14.3.5.

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