- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
Tesla for years had more repeat U.S. customers than any other major automotive brand but its loyalty has plunged since CEO Elon Musk endorsed President Donald Trump last summer, according to data from research firm S&P Global Mobility shared exclusively with Reuters.
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, according to an S&P analysis of vehicle-registration data in all 50 states.
That industry-leading brand loyalty rate started to nosedive in July, that data showed, when Musk endorsed Trump following an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on the Republican nominee.
They could also easily wind down some of their very high capital expenditures to last even longer. It’d mean slowing their growth and shelving some new ideas, things we probably haven’t even seen, but that would dramatically change their balance sheet.
Doing that isn’t good for the long term though, it would just cause a stagnation loop leading to further scaling back, but as a temporary measure if cash preservation was important enough, it is an option worth tens of billions over multi year time frame.
Edit: and by slowing growth I don’t mean their car sales are declining so that’s not growth, I mean maybe investing less in the AI super computer they are building, or not building a 2nd lithium refinery right away even if the 1st one works out as planned. The kind of things that are good for the future of the company, but you can’t just throw money at when things might turn dire and you need to hang onto that cash for security.