Survey shows car buyers are less interested in Teslas

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• Kelley Blue Book Quarterly Consumer Perception Survey
• Tesla with strongest decline in buying interest
• Model Y and Model S fall out of the top 10, willingness to buy in Model 3 with a sharp slump

According to Cox Automotive, Tesla was the top luxury carmaker in the US market based on sales figures in the third quarter of 2022. That position could soon be faltering, however, as a third-quarter survey by Kelley Blue Book found fewer and fewer people considering buying a Tesla when looking to upgrade to a new luxury car. The US company conducts regular consumer perception surveys and produces quarterly reports showing how a brand compares to its competitors. The latest results have been devastating for Tesla.

No brand is losing interest as much as Tesla

Overall, luxury carmakers cannot complain about a lack of interest from potential customers. As Kelley Blue Book determined, general interest in luxury cars fell by one percentage point in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter to 53 percent, but was still well above the level of the previous year, when only 49 percent of those surveyed stated that thinking about buying a luxury car. Interest in luxury SUVs, on the other hand, remained stable at 67 percent compared to the second quarter, according to the results of the survey.

With regard to individual brands, the willingness to buy of “luxury shoppers” hardly changed from the second to the third quarter. While most of those surveyed, at 22 percent, wanted to consider BMW vehicles in their purchasing decision – an increase of one percent compared to the previous quarter – interest in buying remained with Lexus, Cadillac, AUDI and Mercedes-Benz, which ranked second to fifth in the survey lying, unchanged.

However, the willingness to buy a Tesla among those surveyed fell from 15 percent in the previous quarter to just 12 percent in the third quarter of 2022. The electric car manufacturer thus slipped from fifth place among the most popular luxury car brands to sixth place. While a three percentage point drop may not seem overwhelming at first glance, no other brand has experienced a similarly significant drop in interest. According to the survey, buyers’ interest in Lincoln, Jaguar and Lucid cars also fell, but each lost only around one percentage point compared to the previous quarter.

Model 3 popular despite slump in willingness to buy

The willingness to buy also decreased with a view to the individual car models from Tesla. The Model Y and Model S fell completely out of the top 10 most popular luxury cars, according to the Kelley Blue Book survey. The Model Y was also not in the top 5 most popular luxury SUVs in the third quarter for the first time in two years. However, it must be taken into account that interest in the Model Y could simply have shifted into the coming year. Because then, according to “EFAHRER.com”, the car qualifies for financial support in the USA. Anyone who is interested in a Model Y could simply wait and see at the moment.

According to the Kelley Blue Book report, willingness to buy the Model 3 fell by a whopping ten percent in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter. However, this still puts the car in third place among the most popular luxury cars or even in first place if SUVs are separated into their own category. Because sport utility vehicles dominate among luxury shoppers with six places in the general top 10.

Tesla under pressure in the face of strong competition?

Kelley Blue Book sees more intense competition from strong competitors in the luxury segment as the reason for customers’ declining interest in Tesla vehicles. In addition, Tesla is gradually losing touch because announced new products such as the Cybertruck or the Roadster are not yet available. Also the price hikes and the fuss surrounding the Twitter buy through Elon Musk are given as possible reasons for a dwindling interest in e-cars.

In addition, according to the survey, Tesla simply does not deliver what customers want to a sufficient extent. According to the Kelley Blue Book, durability and reliability, safety and driving comfort are the most important factors for consumers when buying a luxury car. However, Tesla does not even make the top 3 in any of these categories. Instead, the electric car maker scores best in the categories driving performance, fuel efficiency and technology, with a third place for interior design. So there is still some room for improvement for the e-car pioneer, which could possibly rekindle the interest of potential buyers.

Editorial office finanzen.net

Image sources: Tesla, JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images