Reaching more of the same consumers, with slightly lower incomes
Sight unseen, over 276,000 people have put a deposit on Tesla’s Model 3 ‒ a vehicle that’s been characterized as the first mass-market vehicle from the luxury car maker. The lower price tag of $35,000 has certainly made this premium brand more accessible to more consumers, but are the masses truly ready to make the leap into an all-electric future?
Using Quantcast Audience Grid and Relevate Auto data, we analyzed consumers who have shown interest in the Model 3 over the 60 days leading up to the unveiling and compared them to current Tesla owners. We found that while the Model 3 has attracted interest from a wider audience, it might be a stretch to characterize them the masses, unless your definition of the masses includes a disproportionate number of corporate board members.
Model 3 brings a younger, mid-income demographic to the brand
Current Tesla owners tend to be male, older (45+ years old), higher income ($100K+) and Asian. The Model 3 searchers also skew male and Asian but bring in a younger demographic (35-44 years old) and slightly lower income ($50-100K) ‒ a testament to the lower, more appealing price point.
Attainable for high-income occupations
Current Tesla owners exclusively over-indexed with corporate board members and the C-Suite in terms of profession. While the Model 3 indexed highly with board members, it also brought in a wider variety of high-paying occupations like consultants, engineers and medical professionals.
Environment dominates interest of owners and searchers
Both Tesla owners and Model 3 searchers showed significantly high interest in the environment and ecology. Other similar interests included shopping, classic cars and technology/science news. Tesla owners indexed highly with computer hardware, travel and cooking while Model 3 owners indexed highly with fitness, consumer electronics and movies.
Converting luxury and aspirational brand car owners alike
The Tesla brand name likely raised interest in the Model 3 among luxury car owners (Lexus, BMW, Mercedes) while the more affordable price tag appealed to aspirational car brand owners (Infiniti, VW). Current hybrid owners may be ready to make the step to all electric as they indexed highly with the Model 3; diesel drivers also indexed highly, perhaps an aftermath of the diesel engine recall last year.
Interest in Model 3 focused in states with Tesla dealerships
Previously we saw usage of Tesla’s browser concentrated in California. While California still makes up the highest percentage of Model 3 searches, interest is more nationally spread out and clustered around states with the most Tesla dealerships. The number of dealerships in a state correlated with a higher proportion of searches for the Model 3.
People with early interest in Tesla’s Model 3 appear to fit the mold of electric car early adopters ‒ people who are very interested in the environment, decreasing dependency on oil and with generally higher income. The lower price point has attracted more interest from a slightly less wealthy tier of high-income consumers compared to Tesla’s existing customers, and the 276,000 people on Tesla’s waitlist attest to this group’s buying power. As to whether this predicts a future of mass appeal for this car, the interest shown by current Infiniti, VW and Lexus owners points to real potential down the road.
About Quantcast
Quantcast has one of the world’s most-sophisticated data-intelligence platforms, using big data and machine learning to solve the biggest challenges in marketing. Quantcast Measure is used by leading publishers for free audience measurement, including demographic and lifestyle insights powered by Quantcast Audience Grid. Quantcast Advertise is a leading programmatic advertising solution for reaching and influencing targeted audiences. Learn more at www.quantcast.com.
NetWise
NetWise Data has been a leader in the alternative data marketplace for online and offline channels since 2010. NetWise has a digital heritage in B2B marketing; segments include everything about the business and the employee.
Relevate Auto
Data Mentors/Relevate is data as a service solutions company . We are a builder of primary content and have been in the data business for over 35 years. Relevate Auto and Relevate New Movers data is insightful, with a focus on accuracy, time to market and value to the brand advertiser.