Tesla just received some bad news about its reputation. According to a new report from the consulting firm Brand Finance, Tesla’s brand value plummeted by $15.4 billion last year. That’s a massive 36% drop, and it marks the third year in a row that the company’s name has lost its shine. At its peak in early 2023, the Tesla brand was worth over $66 billion.
Today, that number has shriveled to about $27.6 billion. The report highlights a few major reasons for the decline. For starters, Tesla hasn’t put out many innovative new models recently, and their cars remain expensive compared to fast-growing rivals like China’s BYD.
But the biggest issue might be the man at the top. Brand Finance CEO David Haigh noted that Elon Musk’s constant “overreach” into global politics and his lack of focus on the actual car business have deeply hurt the company’s image. Musk’s loud political rhetoric and his role in the Trump administration have sparked a backlash from consumers, particularly in Europe and Canada.
The data shows that people simply do not trust or like the brand as much as they used to. In the U.S., Tesla’s “recommendation score”—a measure of whether people would tell their friends to buy one—crashed from an 8.2 to a dismal 4.0. While current Tesla owners still seem loyal to their vehicles, the company is clearly struggling to win over new customers.
This creates a strange situation where regular people and stock market investors see the company very differently. Even though the brand took a beating, Tesla’s stock price actually rose about 11% in 2025. This was partly because Musk personally bought $1 billion worth of shares, and the company started testing “robotaxis” in Texas.
Tesla now ranks behind traditional giants like Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen. As the company prepares to report its latest financial results this week, Musk needs to show he can stop the reputation slide and get back to basics.
