Tesla Pummels BMW, Toyota: More Users Trade In Cars For Model 3, Survey Reveals

The Tesla Model 3 electric four-door sedan has set sales records galore since its U.S. launch in 2017. And not everyone is amused.

Since February 2019, the Model 3 has been the all-time best-selling plug-in electric car in the U.S. It topped global sales of plug-in electric cars in 2018 and looks set to lead Tesla in 2020 to becoming the first electric vehicle (EV) maker to sell one million EVs.

Tesla's success story comes at the expense of the Model 3's competition. The hardest hit by the Model 3's success is BMW 3 Series compact executive car, BMW's best-selling model. The BMW 3 Series accounts for more than 30% of BMW's total annual sales (excluding motorcycles).

These were among the facts brought to light in Bloomberg's new and comprehensive Tesla Model 3 owners’ survey whose results were made public Tuesday. The headline "Tesla’s Model 3 Success Hits BMW the Hardest," encapsulates the results of this global survey.

Bloomberg asked 5,000 owners about what it’s like to own and operate the Model 3. These people were also asked about the other cars they used to own and how these vehicles compared to the Model 3, and if they would go back to their former cars.

The answer to the latter question was an overwhelming "No."

The report said that as a percentage of a brand’s total sales, "no one has been hurt more by Tesla’s success than BMW." It pointed out Tesla took the largest number of customers away from Toyota, but this hit didn't hurt the Japanese car maker at all. That’s because Toyota’s market share in the U.S. is more than seven times larger than that of either BMW or Audi.

The study showed BMW as the automaker with the most to lose from Tesla's rise. BMW is almost five times more vulnerable than Mercedes-Benz. The report said one explanation might be that while both compete in the same price segments, each targets a different definition of “luxury.” Mercedes focuses on comfort and class, while BMW is defined by its driving performance.

"Comfort and class are hard to measure; for performance, you take the car to the track," said Bloomberg.

BMW is also the most vulnerable when measuring luxury cars traded in for a Model 3 against each brand’s U.S. market share.

More galling for BMW is its defeat at the hands of Tesla in the luxury class it once dominated. In the U.S., Tesla Model 3 now owns the luxury class, outselling BMW 3 Series and Mercedes Benz C-Class combined.

Model 3 accomplished this feat by being the more expensive vehicle. The average Model 3 retails for $50,000, which is more expensive than any of the top 10 vehicles buyers traded in from other brands, according Bloomberg. No other sedan in America generates more revenue than Model 3.