Tesla Is on Fire! Consumers Give Model S Highest Rating in Years
Good news for Tesla (TSLA). After three reports of cars catching fire in less than two months and a probe into the safety of the Model S by U.S. regulators, the company has finally caught a break. Tesla has won a nearly perfect score in the annual owner-satisfaction survey conducted by Consumer Reports.
According to the magazine, "owners of the Tesla Model S gave it the highest owner-satisfaction score Consumer Reports has seen in years: 99 out of 100."
Related: Elon Musk: Tesla Almost Gave Me a Nervous Breakdown
The survey recorded 350,000 responses from Consumer Reports subscribers who had recently purchased a car, asking if they would purchase the same model again.
So does this mean reports of the cars catching fire are overblown? “If your car is not getting investigated, you’re not even really a car company,” jokes Breakout’s Jeff Macke.
Tesla’s cars are fueled by lithium batteries which have always had problems with flammability, Macke notes. But still, “nobody has died in a Tesla, they’ve made a safe car. There are flaws with the car but we’re talking about three automobiles. Three.”
Tesla stock has fallen nearly 30% in the past month but is still up 243% year-to-date. Elon Musk himself has said he believes the stock to be overvalued, recently telling Bloomberg News that he thinks the price is, “more than we have the right to deserve.”
Related: Google and Tesla: Too Late to Touch?
So what’s the bottom line?
“Look, it’s a fancy car with a couple of problems,” says Macke. “So the stock price has gone from superhero Elon Musk walking on water to a real, live grownup car company that has a couple of issues but they make a beautiful product. They’re BMW now instead of the car that God made.”
Related: Elon Musk Is Playing With Fire — and Tesla May Get Badly Burned
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