Tesla is and isn’t America’s top choice for electric vehicles
It’s got the biggest EV market share in the US but few EV buyers say it’s their top choice.
In January, less than 4% of would-be EV buyers said Tesla was their top choice when it comes to automakers — the lowest share on record — according recent survey data provided to Sherwood News from polling firm YouGov. Meanwhile, 21% of EV buyers, and Americans in general, say Toyota is their preferred car brand.
That sentiment puts EV buyers at odds with their recent behavior. Last quarter, 44% of the electric-vehicle sales in the US were Teslas, according to data from Cox Automotive. Tesla, which was the first to market with electric vehicles, has been steadily giving up market share to competitors, but still dominates.
Perhaps the YouGov survey suggests some wishful thinking on behalf of electric-vehicle buyers, whose ideal car differs from what’s available in reality.
Tesla, which suffered its first annual sales decline as a public company last year, has lately been criticized for its aging lineup of vehicles and its decision to postpone offering an affordable EV. Even as electric-vehicle ownership in the US surged more than 7% last year, Tesla sold nearly 40,000 fewer EVs in the US last year than it did in 2023. Meanwhile, companies like Honda Group, GM, Hyundai, Ford, and Toyota, which itself has few pure electric offerings, saw their sales grow.
Perhaps also dragging down Tesla’s sales is its CEO Elon Musk’s behavior. Aligning himself with incoming President Donald Trump, while potentially giving Tesla a leg up in the new administration’s policies (and helping to ramp the company’s stock as well as further enrich Musk personally), has potentially alienated some of the people who would buy Teslas in the first place.
Liberals’ lowest view of Tesla came after Musk purchased Twitter.
