Tesla Motors’ brand reputation continued to slip over the last year as the antics of polarizing CEO Elon Musk and other issues tarnished its once-impeccable image, according to new Axios Harris Poll 100 survey results.
Why it matters: Tesla soared to 8th place in 2021’s ranking of America’s 100 most visible companies by their perceived image, but has since plummeted to 63rd — suggesting Musk and his company flew too high and too fast, like Icarus of Greek myth.
Zoom in: In the 2024 Axios Harris Poll 100, Tesla ranks in the 70s or below on attributes like character, trust and ethics.
- It ranks higher on factors like growth (48th), vision (34th) and products & services (32nd).
- But those rankings are far below its standing just three years ago, when Tesla ranked in the top 10 on all three attributes.
Context: Tesla’s reputation has slid behind those of other conventional automakers.
- Honda (7th), Toyota (12th), Subaru (15th), General Motors (40th) and Ford (55th) now all rank higher than Tesla (63rd).
- Only Volkswagen (69th) ranks lower.
www.axios.com/2024/05/23/tesla-reputation-axios-harris-poll
A Tesla vehicle in Full-Self Driving mode appeared to fail to detect a moving train and stop on its own, leading to a chaotic accident depicted in a video that has been viewed millions of times on social media.
The car’s owner and driver, Craig Doty II, told NBC News that he takes responsibility for the accident, but he said he also believes that Tesla’s Self-Driving technology, or at least as it existed in his vehicle, is a defective product.
“I was the only one in the car. I was the only car in the accident. So yes, it was my fault, it had to be,” Doty said. “But I feel it was more that the damn car didn’t recognize the train.”
“You do get complacent that it knows what it’s doing,” he said of the Tesla technology. “And usually it’s more cautious than I would be as a driver.”
The accident occurred on the morning of May 8. Doty, a certified general appraiser in Ohio, was driving at around 60 mph, according to a Tesla crash report. The speed limit on the road was 55 mph, according to Doty and a police report associated with the accident. Drivers can request crash reports from Tesla, which are generated using data individual cars send to Tesla servers. Doty requested a report from the incident and provided it to NBC News, along with video of the crash recorded by the car.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/rcna153345