A new study shows some troubling news for Tesla fans: more than 50% of owners would “definitely consider” buying a future Apple Car.
According to a Strategic Vision survey of over 200,000 new-vehicle owners (via Business Insider), the Cupertino, California-based Apple brand ranks third in a list of brands that people “love,” and would consider buying a car from. Interesting as that is, perhaps the most interesting tidbit of information was that a majority of Tesla owners (over 50%) gave the strongest positive response to a potential future Apple Car.
“Apple is the 3rd highest brand consideration with 26% of customers stating they would, ‘Definitely Consider’ an Apple-branded vehicle in the future; just behind Toyota (38%) and Honda (32%), followed by Ford (21%) and Tesla (20%). However, Apple’s strength doesn’t end here,” says Strategic Vision President Alexander Edwards. “What should be concerning to (other carmakers) is that Apple generates a greater amount of ‘love’ than any other automotive company, double that of strong brands like Honda, Toyota, and Tesla.”
Tesla has historically maintained some of the strongest customer loyalty figures of any car brand, with a 62% loyalty figure in the most recent numbers. While that’s a huge number, it’s worth noting that it had previously been as high as 70%, and that the majority of repeat Tesla buyers seem to be going from a more expensive (and profitable) Model S to a smaller, more affordable Model 3.
From a long-term viability perspective, we think you’d want that trend to be going the other way, with entry-level Tesla Model 3 buyers trading “up” into a Model S – wouldn’t you?
Regardless, the rise of Porsche CEO Oliver Blume to the head of the whole of the VW Group (which includes Audi, Lamborghini, and Bugatti) may accelerate Apple’s plans to bring their “Project Titan” Apple Car to production, since Blume has been rumored to be collaborating with Apple in the past.
You can check out Apple’s 2022 World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote – which features the new, expanded Apple CarPlay ecosystem – below, then let us know what you think of the Strategic Vision numbers in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
WWDC 2022 | Apple
SOURCE | IMAGES: BUSINESSWIRE, APPLE.
