Brand Finance found that Tesla lost $15 billion in brand value in 2024.

value Tesla The brand fell 26% in 2024, the second consecutive annual decline, with factors including its older vehicle lineup, and CEO Elon Musk “Hostility,” according to research and consulting firm Brand Finance.

Tesla's brand value now stands at an estimated $43 billion, down from $58.3 billion at the beginning of 2024 and $66.2 billion at the beginning of 2023, the company said in its annual ranking. Toyota The researchers found that the most valuable automotive brand was worth $64.7 billion, followed by Mercedes with $53 billion.

Brand Finance, based in London, conducts comprehensive consumer surveys and analyzes thousands of companies' financial statements, looking at revenues, licensing agreements, margins and more, to estimate the monetary value of brands. Evaluations include corporate brands and sub-brands associated with individual product lines.

As part of this year's company ranking, Brand Finance analyzed the answers of about 175,000 survey participants worldwide, including about 16,000 people who shared their views on Tesla.

The results show that the way consumers perceive… Tesla Very different from Wall Street valuation.

Tesla's stock price rose 63% last year, reaching a record high in December, after investors bought shares after… Donald Trump Winning the election the previous month. Musk contributed $277 million to help propel Trump and other Republican candidates to victory, and is preparing to exert his influence in the administration to benefit his companies.

When it comes to the broader public, David Hay, CEO of Brand Finance, says Musk's political rhetoric and public persona have downsides.

“There are people who think it's cool, but a lot of people don't,” Hay said. “If you're buying electric cars, his personality will likely influence your view on whether or not you want to buy one of his company's cars, but that's just one factor among many.”

On key metrics like “Consideration,” “Reputation” and “Recommendation,” Tesla’s scores fell across the board in the key markets where it operates factories and sells its cars — the United States, Europe and Asia, Brand Finance found.

The interest score shows whether people will consider purchasing from a brand. The reputation score shows how much participants value the brand on average on a scale of 1 to 10. The recommendation score indicates whether or not people are likely to speak favorably about the brand.

Tesla saw significant declines in its results in Europe, where interest fell from 21% to 16% on average from 2024 to 2025.

Rivals Mercedes and BYD particularly outperformed Tesla in interest and recommendation scores outside the US

However, Tesla has maintained a high loyalty rate of 90% in the United States. This means that customers who already own a Tesla are likely to continue driving it for the next 12 months. But Tesla's US recommendation score fell from 8.2 out of 10 to 4.3.

Hay said Tesla's declining ratings and brand value are a sign that the company's “traction force” is weakening. He said there was a risk that “Tesla will not be able to sell as many products, and will not be able to sell at high prices as it did before.”

There were already worrying signs. Tesla deliveries for 2024 It fell by about 1% to 1.79 million, despite increasing demand for battery electric vehicles around the world. In the United States, Tesla's market share in electric vehicles fell to 49% from 55% a year earlier, according to data from Cox Automotive.

Tesla's Brand Strength Index score, according to Brand Finance, also fell from just over 80 to just under 65. The score indicates how well the brand is performing compared to competitors on intangible metrics.

“Unless Tesla can come up with a full suite of new products that will really excite consumers, and unless it can mitigate some of the animosity caused by its leader, it will be seen as past its peak and will begin to decline.” He said.

Measuring musk

Musk's political activity was not limited to the United States; it is said that it was In regular contact with With Russian President Vladimir Putin, he praised and worked with Italian Giorgia Meloni, Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro and Argentine Javier Miley, and appeared in public with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is recently Support The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has pressured British officials to release anti-immigrant activists Tommy Robinsona convicted fraudster with a violent criminal record, was released from prison.

On Monday, during his public remarks after Trump's inauguration, Musk used this gesture frequently Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, whose work focuses on fascism, described it as a “very aggressive and Nazi salute.” Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

When it comes to consumer attitudes, “There will be a few who say, 'I really don't care what they do. I just want their product,'” Hay said. “There are gradations from people who care, all the way up to those who say, 'I'm not touching this product on principle.'

Tesla is characterized by the close connection between the company's brand and its leader.

“With Tesla, it's very clear who the CEO is, that this person is in charge and that his or her behavior will impact the company's reputation,” Hay said.

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

The company estimated that the total value of Brand X fell 26% to $498 million from $673 million. Simple awareness of Brand Before Musk took over and rebranded, Twitter's brand value was worth $5.7 billion in 2022.

The name change accounted for part of the overall decline, according to Brand Finance, but also a loss of users, advertisers and ad revenue.

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

For SpaceX, which Brand Finance began evaluating at the beginning of 2024, the company's brand value increased 11% to $3.8 billion. About 45% of people who responded to the survey in the United States were familiar with SpaceX, a highly rated aerospace and defense company.

The company found that Starlink's brand value, calculated separately from SpaceX, was worth $2.4 billion. This number is expected to rise as the company continues to add new users and demonstrate consistently higher revenue from monthly subscribers.

Brand Finance will publish its report Global 500 2025 Study of the world's most valuable brands on Tuesday in Davos.

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