Autonomous driving becomes a negative asset! Survey shows: FSD reduces consumers' willingness to purchase Tesla

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Elon Musk's enthusiastic promotion of Tesla's (TSLA.US) autonomous driving technology has not significantly helped in winning over potential buyers. According to a recent survey, an increasing number of American consumers indicate that Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system drives them away from the brand rather than attracting them to purchase a car.

It is reported that the political consulting firm Slingshot Strategies released the August "Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report," which surveyed 8,000 Americans. The survey showed that only 14% of respondents said FSD would make them more willing to buy a Tesla, while 35% said the technology would decrease their willingness to purchase a Tesla, and the remaining 51% of respondents indicated that the presence or absence of FSD did not affect their car-buying decisions. The Slingshot Strategies survey also revealed that nearly half of the surveyed consumers believe FSD technology should be classified as illegal.

Additionally, surveys show that in the past two months, the proportion of consumers who consider Tesla cars "unsafe" has risen from 34% to 36%, while the proportion who consider them "very safe" has dropped from 17% to 13%.

For Tesla, these survey results are undoubtedly "adding insult to injury." Currently, due to an aging electric vehicle product line and intensified competition, Tesla's sales have significantly declined. Meanwhile, Musk's provocative political statements, collaboration with the Trump administration, and support for the far-right German party AfD have also damaged Tesla's brand reputation. In July of this year, Tesla's car sales in Europe fell by 40% year-on-year, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline.

In the autonomous taxi market, Tesla lags behind Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), and Apollo Go from Baidu (BIDU.US). Currently, Tesla is conducting preliminary tests of its autonomous taxi service in Austin, Texas, and the San Francisco Bay Area, hoping to expand to more cities this year. In Austin, the test vehicles are equipped with in-car safety personnel; in San Francisco, the vehicles are still controlled by drivers.

Musk has stated that Tesla's future depends on its ability to deliver autonomous vehicles and related services. He recently mentioned that the new Model Y launched in China "will not begin mass production in the U.S. until the end of next year," and it may "never happen because the U.S. will enter the era of autonomous driving."

Currently, Tesla's main revenue still heavily relies on its electric vehicle sales, although Musk has consistently described FSD as one of the company's key advantages over competitors. Last month, Tesla executives hinted that the company faces a "lack of market education" issue when promoting FSD. Musk stated during the company's second-quarter earnings call, "The vast majority of people don't even know it exists. Moreover, even among Tesla owners, nearly half of those who can use FSD have never tried it." He mentioned that in the future, they would introduce FSD to customers when they bring their cars in for repairs and plan to proactively contact car owners to send them videos demonstrating how it works Elon Musk once posted on social media that FSD can "operate under all conditions," will "save lives," and will become a "life-changing product" for many. He also shared user videos showing Tesla owners using FSD without holding the steering wheel.

However, in the user manual, Tesla lists many conditions under which FSD (Supervised) may be unreliable and explicitly warns users to always keep both hands on the steering wheel and be ready to take over steering or braking at any time. Evan Roth Smith, research director at Slingshot Strategies, stated that Tesla's ambiguity in marketing and lack of honesty may be significant factors.

The investigation also found that most consumers want clear and strict regulatory rules for autonomous vehicles (whether fully automated or partially automated) in the U.S. Slingshot Strategies reported: "The public strongly supports holding autonomous vehicle manufacturers accountable for accidents and implementing stricter regulations and advertising standards for features like FSD."

Evan Roth Smith noted that data shows, aside from the issues with FSD, Tesla "has the worst reputation among all electric vehicle manufacturers in the U.S." He stated, "The decline in the company's brand reputation this year has been shocking." He added that recent product liability lawsuits and judgments may also have played a role.

On August 1, local time, a jury in Florida ruled that Tesla should bear partial responsibility for a fatal accident involving a 2019 Model S equipped with an autonomous driving system, ordering the company to pay approximately $243 million in damages to the family of a deceased woman and an injured party. In response, Musk stated that Tesla would appeal the Florida jury's decision.

Additionally, recently, several Tesla owners in California jointly filed a lawsuit accusing Tesla of misleading consumers over the past eight years by exaggerating the capabilities of its autonomous driving technology. The lawsuit pointed out that since 2016, Tesla has continuously promoted the vehicles as having "full self-driving hardware" through its official website, blogs, quarterly earnings calls, and other channels, implying that related features would soon be available. However, the technology of the vehicles at the time of delivery did not match the promotions