Most Americans hold a positive view of top carmakers, especially those whose vehicles they personally own, with Toyota the most-loved at 42 percent positive and GM trailing the pack at 13 percent positive. But for one, that is: Tesla, the only brand more disliked than liked by Americans, at minus 4 percent.
That said, owners like their Teslas more than other American vehicle owners love their rides–77 percent of Tesla owners have a positive view of the company. It's not as well-liked by owners as cars from Japanese automakers Honda and Toyota, in a league of their own.
Note, though, that Tesla is the only EV-only company in Sherwood's roundup, based on numbers from YouGov, and its poor vibes may have more to do with that (and controversial chief executive Elon Musk) than the cars themselves.
So far this year, Tesla has produced 47,000 more cars than it sold, causing the surplus to pile up in parking lots across the globe. First-quarter sales slid 9% from a year earlier, reflecting both the decline in deliveries and slashed prices, as the company contends with increased competition and slowing sales growth for electric vehicles generally. Its net income declined 55%, and its market cap — once over a trillion dollars — has fallen by more than half. The company has also faced a number of high-profile recalls this year, including for its widely mocked Cybertruck. Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk has been ingratiating himself with right-wing leaders and spreading misinformation on his social network, where climate skepticism and hostility proliferate. He's also been dividing his attention and resources among his five other companies — all while urging shareholders to vote for his record pay package, which a judge already voided in January.
According to the data, Tesla's reputation went underwater in late 2022 and has never recovered. This corresponds with Musk's takeover of popular microblogging platform Twitter, but it's not as if there aren't plenty of other reasons to find fault with the automaker.
