Tesla loses some footing among luxury car shoppers
More luxury car shoppers considered a BMW
BMW,
than any brand during the first quarter of 2022. But Cadillac’s rise may be bigger news. Or perhaps Tesla’s
TSLA,
big slip is the headline.
The results come from Kelley Blue Book’s Brand Watch report — a consumer perception survey that also weaves in consumer shopping behavior to determine how a brand or model stacks up with its segment competitors on a dozen factors key to a consumer’s buying decision.
Our researchers create a separate Brand Watch report for non-luxury and luxury brands each quarter. Toyota
TM,
won the most shopper attention in the non-luxury report.
BMW being the most-considered brand is nothing new. The brand held the top position for more than three years until the fourth quarter of last year. Lexus briefly took its title then. Lexus fell to third last quarter.
The 10 most-considered luxury brands:
- BMW: 21%
- Cadillac: 18%
- Lexus: 17%
- Mercedes: 16%
- Tesla: 15%
- Audi: 14%
- Acura: 12%
- Buick: 11%
- (tie) Infiniti: 8%
- (tie) Genesis: 8%
Cadillac took second on the strength of its Escalade full-size SUV. It earned consideration from more shoppers than any other luxury vehicle.
Tesla, meanwhile, fell from third place at the end of 2021 to fifth at the start of 2022.
See: All the companies that are making or planning electric vehicles
There are at least two ways to read Tesla’s slip. One is that it’s facing more competition than ever before as most automakers introduce new electric vehicles in 2022. Shopping for the Model 3 and Model Y each dropped by 30% in the latest survey.
Read: Death to the car dealership — the Tesla sales model is poised to take over America
The other is that Tesla shoppers know what they want and don’t consider other vehicles. Late last year, the company became America’s best-selling luxury automaker. It continues to dominate EV sales – 75% of the EVs Americans bought last quarter were Teslas.
The 10 most-considered luxury models:
- Cadillac Escalade
- Buick Enclave
- Tesla Model 3
- Tesla Model Y
- Lexus RX
- BMW 5 Series
- Acura MDX
- BMW 3 Series
- BMW X5
- Buick Encore
This story originally ran on KBB.com.