Tesla's Brand Loyalty Drops After Elon Musk's Trump Endorsement, Data Shows

Tesla's customer loyalty has plummeted since CEO Elon Musk endorsed US President Donald Trump last summer, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. The brand loyalty rate peaked at 73% in June 2024 but dropped to 49.9% in March 2025, below the industry average. It has since rebounded to 57.4% in May 2025. Analysts believe Musk's political involvement turned off eco-conscious customers, while Tesla's aging model lineup and increased competition from other EV manufacturers also contributed to the decline in loyalty.

Tesla's customer loyalty has plummeted since CEO Elon Musk endorsed US President Donald Trump last summer, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. The brand loyalty rate peaked at 73% in June 2024 but dropped to 49.9% in March 2025, below the industry average. It has since rebounded to 57.4% in May 2025. Analysts believe Musk's political involvement turned off eco-conscious customers, while Tesla's aging model lineup and increased competition from other EV manufacturers also contributed to the decline in loyalty.

The data, which has not been previously reported, shows Tesla’s customer loyalty peaked in June 2024, when 73% of Tesla-owning households in the market for a new car bought another Tesla [1]. This loyalty rate started to nosedive in July, following Musk's endorsement of Trump in the wake of an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania [1]. The rate bottomed out at 49.9% in March 2025, just below the industry average, after Musk launched Trump's budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January and started firing thousands of government workers [1].

Tesla's U.S. loyalty rate has since ticked back up to 57.4% in May 2025, putting it back above the industry average and about the same as Toyota but behind Chevrolet and Ford [1]. S&P analyst Tom Libby called it "unprecedented" to see the runaway leader in customer loyalty fall so quickly to industry-average levels [1].

The timing of Tesla's plunging brand loyalty suggests the CEO's involvement in politics turned off customers in the EV pioneer's eco-conscious customer base, some analysts said. "If they have Democratic leanings, then perhaps they consider other brands in addition to Tesla," said Seth Goldstein, an analyst at Morningstar [1].

Tesla's aging model lineup also faces stiffer competition from an array of EVs from legacy automakers including General Motors, Hyundai, and BMW. The only new model Tesla has released since 2020, its triangular Cybertruck, has proved a flop despite Musk’s prediction of hundreds of thousands of annual sales [1].

Tesla vehicle sales overall are falling globally and have declined 8% in the United States the first five months of 2025, according to S&P. Sales fell 33% over the first six months of the year in Europe, where public backlash to Musk’s politicking has been particularly fierce [1].

Musk's increased political activism was "very bad timing" for Tesla, said Garrett Nelson, an analyst who tracks the EV maker at CFRA Research, because it came exactly as the company faced heightened competition from Chinese EV makers and other traditional automakers [1]. He said his top concerns for Tesla are its loss of market share and "what can be done to repair the brand damage" [1].

References:
[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/teslas-brand-loyalty-collapsed-after-musk-backed-trump-data-shows-2025-08-04/