Oliver Haslam on February 3, 2023, 3:41 pm

Tesla Is Retaining Customers At a Better Rate Than The Competition

Tesla buyers are remaining with the company when choosing a new car at a rate that is better than the competition, according to a new report.

An S&P Global report looked into so-called nomad car buyers — people who buy a car from a brand and then choose another brand the next time they need to replace it.

According to that report, Tesla comes out top in terms of making sure that its customers aren’t “one and done” buyers — people who choose a brand for the first time and then jump ship the next time out.

While Tesla’s high share of first-time owners (83%) isn’t too surprising, their ability to keep those new customers is extraordinary. Tesla’s ‘One and Done’ rate is just 39% compared to 58% for the industry (remember, a lower number is better in this case). The next-best ‘One and Done’ rate goes to Ford at 50%. However, Nomad share of Ford’s return-to-market households in less than half of Tesla’s.

This data suggests that traditional car companies may then struggle to get customers back once they’ve driven a Tesla — perhaps as their very first electric vehicle.

It was assumed that as more car companies jump into electric vehicles that they would take their old customers back, but that might not be the case. It isn’t clear what it is about Tesla that keeps customers from going elsewhere, but Electrek suggests things like the Supercharger network could be key.