Tesla can claim a new victory: No other car manufacturer in Germany can turn so many customers into repeat offenders. But behind the high level of customer loyalty is a completely different problem.
No success for Tesla: That’s why e-car buyers like to come back
Tesla is able to convince a higher proportion of German customers to buy one of its own models the next time they buy a car than any other car brand. 86.6 percent of Tesla customers who replaced their old car with a new one in the past year again opted for one of the electric models from the US manufacturer. This was the result of an analysis of the approvals of the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) by the analysts from Dataforce (source: Automobilwoche).
As a result, no other carmaker in Germany is currently achieving a higher level customer loyalty. But the numbers are deceptive, because Tesla’s top position includes a special effect: Tesla’s large share in the environmental bonus scam in which the Funding collected and e-cars then quickly resold become.
Previous studies by the Center for Automotive Management had shown that almost a third of Teslas were resold. Dataforce now says that proud 70 percent of returned Tesla customers Replace e-car with a new model after six months – so just in time to be able to collect the environmental bonus for the rules that apply until the end of 2022.
If this 70 percent is ignored, the loyalty rate drops to 76 percent. This means that Tesla only performs slightly better than that Runner-up: Dacia with 73.6 percent. Third place goes to Toyota – some way behind at 59.2 percent.
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It is striking how much the number of loyal Tesla customers collapses without those who have exploited the environmental bonus gap. From over 4,000 Teslas remain so only around 960 left, so the automobile week. The Dataforce study only considered vehicle changes in which a car was exchanged directly for a new one. This explains the low number of new registrations per year.
Junk image: Tesla could suffer from the environmental bonus
Elon Musk as Tesla boss should hardly cause a headache. The cars are eventually bought, driving profits. But on the other hand, it is a problem when customers buy their Teslas in large parts for a short time only to then sell them profitably to the next person. In a very short time, the only thing left of the claim of a premium manufacturer is the reputation that Tesla produces practically directly for the used market. With the new rules for the environmental bonus, the scam has also been said to be less attractive since the turn of the year.