- Ford has the most loyal owners of any car company, according to a new survey
- Longtime leader Tesla is losing owners to legacy automakers
Nearly 60% of shoppers who traded in a Ford vehicle in the first half of 2025 bought another Ford. The company’s 59.6% brand loyalty rate was good enough to take the brand loyalty crown from longtime holder Tesla.
Tesla’s loyalty rate fell to 58.1%, narrowly ahead of third-place Chevrolet at 58%.
Most car buyers remain loyal, with 51.1% choosing a new car of the same brand as their trade-in. However, overall, industry loyalty fell by 1.4% in the first half of the year.
The numbers come from the analysts at S&P Global Mobility, who study owner loyalty and defection rates quarterly.
Tesla owners, they found, fell 9.4% from a year ago. Only Dodge did worse, losing 12.7% after a period in which it discontinued its Challenger muscle car and replaced its signature Charger sedan with a model that has proven less compelling, so far, to fans.
Industry publication Automotive News reports, “Tesla owners are not just defecting to brands with fresh EV models, such as Hyundai and Cadillac, but also to Chevrolet gasoline vehicles and Volvo hybrids, according to S&P Global Mobility data.”
Seventy percent of Tesla owners who switched brands in the first half of the year chose another electric vehicle (EV), but 30% returned to a gasoline or hybrid-powered car.
The troubled brand will likely suffer another blow soon, as the federal government’s $7,500 electric vehicle (EV) tax rebate sunsets at the end of this month.
