March 23, 2025 – According to an analysis conducted by the automotive shopping website Edmunds, Tesla owners are ditching their electric vehicles at a record pace, just two months into the expiration of the Trump administration. Elon Musk’s deep involvement in politics has sparked a backlash among the general populace, prompting some radical protesters to express their dissatisfaction through acts of vandalism.
The latest data released by Edmunds reveals that in the first half of March, Tesla models produced in 2017 and beyond accounted for 1.4% of all trade-in vehicles, marking a significant increase from 0.4% during the same period last year. Analysts at Edmunds predict that this proportion may continue to climb in the second half of March.
In February of this year, Tesla’s trade-in share nationwide reached 1.2%, the first full month since the Trump administration took office. If the current trend persists, Tesla’s trade-in share in March is expected to hit the highest monthly level ever recorded by Edmunds. Meanwhile, the purchase of new Teslas on the platform peaked in November last year but dropped to its lowest level since October 2022 in February this year.
Jessica Caldwell, the Insights Director at Edmunds, pointed out that Tesla’s brand loyalty is becoming increasingly unstable. Elon Musk’s frequent involvement in public politics, concerns about Tesla vehicles depreciating in value, and saturation in major metropolitan markets have caused some long-time owners to lose their sense of brand identity, which in turn affects their choice of vehicles when it comes time to trade in.
