Tesla to lose $15 billion in brand value by 2024, Brand Finance finds

Meaning Tesla the brand fell 26% in 2024, its second consecutive annual decline due to factors such as an aging vehicle lineup, and General director Elon Musk “antagonism,” according to research and consulting firm Brand Finance.

Tesla’s brand is now valued at $43 billion, down from $58.3 billion in early 2024 and $66.2 billion in early 2023, according to the company’s annual ranking. Toyota The researchers found it to be the most valuable car brand at $64.7 billion, closely followed by Mercedes at $53 billion.

Based in London, Brand Finance conducts comprehensive consumer surveys and analyzes the financials of thousands of companies, looking at revenue, licensing agreements, margins and more to assess brands’ monetary value. Estimates include corporate brands and sub-brands associated with individual product lines.

As part of the firm’s ranking this year, Brand Finance analyzed the responses of about 175,000 respondents worldwide, including about 16,000 people who shared their views on Tesla.

The results show that consumers are watching Tesla very different from Wall Street’s valuation.

Tesla’s stock price has soared 63% in the past year, hitting a record high in December after investors snapped up shares after Donald Trump election victory last month. Musk contributed $277 million to help Trump and other Republican candidates win, and is willing to influence the administration to benefit his companies.

When it comes to the general public, Brand Finance CEO David Haye says Musk’s political rhetoric and public persona have their downsides.

“There are people who think he’s great, but a lot of people don’t,” Haye said. “If you’re shopping for electric cars, his personality will likely influence your decision about whether you want to buy one of his company’s cars, but that’s just one of many factors.”

On key metrics such as “consideration”, “reputation” and “recommendation”, Tesla’s performance fell in all the main markets where it operates factories and sells its cars – the US, Europe and Asia, Brand Finance found.

A consideration score indicates whether people will consider buying from a brand. The reputation score shows how highly respondents, on average, feel about the brand on a scale of 1 to 10. And the recommendation score shows whether people can speak positively about the brand.

Tesla experienced a significant decline in its scores in Europe, where its score dropped from 21% to 16% on average from 2024 to 2025.

Competitors Mercedes and BYD beat Tesla, especially in review and recommendation scores outside the US

However, Tesla has maintained a high loyalty score in the US at 90%. This means that customers who already own a Tesla are more likely to drive one within the next 12 months. But Tesla’s recommendation score in the US dropped from 8.2 out of 10 to 4.3.

Hay said the decline in Tesla’s scores and brand value is a sign that “the company’s traction is waning.” He said there is a risk that “Tesla won’t be able to sell as many products and won’t be able to sell at the high prices that they used to.”

There were already alarming signs. Tesla deliveries for 2024 fell about 1% to 1.79 million, even as demand for battery electric vehicles increased worldwide. According to data from Cox Automotive, in the US the share of the electric vehicle market fell to 49% from 55% a year earlier.

Tesla’s brand strength index, according to Brand Finance, also fell from just over 80 to just under 65. The score shows how well a brand is doing compared to its competitors in intangibles.

“If Tesla can’t come up with a whole new product line that really excites consumers, and if they can’t mitigate some of the antagonism caused by their leadership, they’re going to be seen as past their peak and start to decline,” Hay said. said.

Measurement Mask

Musk is reportedly not limiting his political activities to the US in regular contact with with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, praised and worked with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s Javier Millei, and spoke publicly with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.

He recently approved Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has pressured British officials to release the anti-immigrant Tommy Robinsona convicted fraudster with a violent criminal record, from places of imprisonment.

On Monday, during public appearances after Trump’s inauguration, Musk used the gesture several times which the historian Ruth Ben-Ghiyat, whose work focuses on fascism, described as “a Nazi salute and very militant”. Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

When it comes to consumer attitudes, “there will be a small number who say, ‘I really don’t care what they do. I just want their product,” Haye said. “There are other gradations of people who don’t care, all the way up to those who say I don’t touch this product at all.”

Tesla is unique in the close connection between the company’s brand and its leader.

In Tesla’s case, “it’s very clear who the CEO is, what that person is in charge of, and their behavior will affect the reputation of the company,” Hay said.

Brand Finance also rated other Musk-led brands, including X, aerospace and defense contractor SpaceX and, for the first time, SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellite business.

Brand X’s total value fell 26% to $498 million from $673 million, the firm estimated. The simple awareness of brand X internationally has fallen since 2022, when the company was still called Twitter, from 94% to 78% today. Before Musk took over and renamed it, the Twitter brand was worth $5.7 billion in 2022.

According to Brand Finance, the name change was partly responsible for the overall drop, but also for the loss of users, advertisers and ad revenue.

“Twitter was very popular, very liked and attracted a lot of advertising,” Hay said. “Overnight, when he changed it to X, according to our data, it reduced the value by about 75%. It went down and continues to go down.”

For SpaceX, which Brand Finance began valuing in early 2024, the company’s brand value increased 11% to $3.8 billion. About 45% of people in the US who responded to the survey were familiar with SpaceX, a highly ranked aerospace and defense company.

The firm found that the Starlink brand, calculated separately from SpaceX, is valued at $2.4 billion. This number is expected to increase as the company continues to add new users and steadily increase its revenue from monthly subscribers.

Brand Finance will publish it Global 500 2025 study of the world’s most valuable brands on Tuesday in Davos.

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