Five years ago, Bloomberg sent out a survey to thousands of Tesla Model 3 owners. This year, it brought back the survey to see how owners’ opinions had changed over the years. “[T]housands of the original survey responders” responded, and when Bloomberg looked at the data, one thing stood out — Telsa owners don’t like Elon Musk nearly as much as they used to. In fact, his antics are actively driving owners away from the brand.
According to Bloomberg, the drop in Musk’s approval rating had the most significant change of opinion compared to other topics included in the survey. Most responders still weren’t at a point where they felt ready to sell their cars, “[b]ut they also reported feeling a sense of betrayal as Musk picked political fights online, downplayed the potential consequences of climate change and backed controversial figures and ideas.”
In fact, they gave Musk a lower approval rating than Tesla’s oft-maligned customer service line.
Among the group of owners that did decide to walk away from Tesla, “Disapproval of Elon Musk” was the top reason at 21.5 percent. The next most common reason was “Concerns about quality or service” at 18.7 percent, followed by “Unhappy with Tesla’s brand perception” at 17.8 percent.
“I love the vehicles but do not want to support someone who has such vitriol and low opinion of the very people who have made Tesla a success,” one owner told Bloomberg. Another said, “I’d prefer he not be so tied to the image of Tesla. I don’t want my car to be an Elon Musk conversation starter.”
Teslas are still selling well, so it’s not like the sky is falling just yet, but it’s not exactly a good sign for owners’ (and the general public’s) opinion of the CEO to be so low. And even if the board could get rid of Musk, would Tesla still be popular enough on its own to survive without him? It will probably be a long time before we find out the answer to that question, if we ever do. But it really does feel like Elon is more of a liability for Tesla than ever before.
