Kelley Blue Book‘s Brand Watch report, a consumer perception survey that attempts to gauge how much mindshare and consideration a specific brand or model commands from buyers in its segment, has Tesla dipping a couple of places down to fifth and BMW sitting pretty in first.
The survey also incorporates consumer shopping behavior and assesses each candidate on a dozen factors relating to customers buying decisions.
Tesla fell from the number three spot in the luxury car brand segment it held at the end of last year to number five at the start of 2022. BMW is the most considered luxury brand right now, with 21% of respondents favoring the German carmaker.
Cadillac has soared up to second with 18%, Lexus is in third place with 17%, Mercedes is fourth with 16%, and Tesla has settled into fifth place with 15%.
On the list of top ten most-considered luxury vehicles, Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y placed third and fourth for this installment of the ranking, the only electric vehicles to make the top 10.
The Cadillac Escalade was the most-considered luxury vehicle during the period covered by the survey, followed by the Buick Enclave.
That said, these rankings are largely based on how much time of day buyers in the luxury segment give specific brands and cars.
Tesla actually dethroned BMW to become the best-selling luxury automaker in the U.S. after the Model 3 and Model Y became the most popular luxury cars in the country late last year. Kelley Blue Book itself named Tesla 2022’s Best Overall Luxury Brand last week.
It’s not like Tesla’s sales have dipped, either. Tesla actually saw its market share of all EVs sold in the U.S. rise from 70% in Q1 2021 to 75% in Q1 2022. What’s more, demand for the company’s EVs continues to punch well above output, so much so that CEO Eon Musk suggested last week that Tesla may have to consider suspending orders for some models altogether.
As for Tesla’s dip in “consideration” rankings, there are a couple of explanations. There are a lot more luxury EVs for people to talk about and look over today than there were before, and more are on the way.
Another possible explanation is the fact that most of Tesla’s customers don’t really look around for alternatives. They know what they’re looking for from the very beginning, and therefore don’t add much to these metrics, says KBB.
