America’s ‘Most Loved’ Automotive Brand Is a Startup You May Have Never Heard Of
How do you decide the “most loved” car brand? Well if you’re Consumer Reports, you rank them based on how all their models do on your annual owner satisfaction survey. This year’s winner was Rivian, a startup with two EVs in production: the R1T electric truck and R1S SUV.
The CR method may be the best way to judge most “beloved” brand. But it does have downsides. Drivers who invest extra time and effort to be early adopters of a new technologies, such as EVs, are likely to do their research. Their purchase is probably more intentional than a buyer who hops in whatever a salesperson tells them is hot. And thus their satisfaction will probably stay higher. This may be why Tesla won car brand “most loved” by owners for several years running.
For the latest rankings, Tesla slipped several spots. And it was the newer Rivian company that took first place.
Rivian owners gave their vehicles top marks for driving experience and comfort. They were content with cabin storage spaces and the ownership costs of their $74k+ EVs. But like Tesla owners, they were less thrilled with their car’s usability.
In total, 86% of Rivian owners told Consumer Reports they’d buy their vehicle again. And that’s a very good showing. Second place went to Mini, with 77%. BMW and Porsche tied for third place with 76%. Finally, Tesla came in fifth with 74%.
Rivian sold 9,900 trucks in 2022. In 2023, that number went up to 19,410. Rivian R1T truck sales peaked in August 2023, at 2,838 units. The past few months, it has been holding at over 1,100 units a month.
Rivian started production of the R1S SUV at the end of 2022, delivering 800 that year. In 2023, it sold 23,437 SUVs. Rivian R1S sales peaked at 3,800 in August. In October, November, and December, Rivian sold about 2,000 SUVs.
Next, find out why 1 in 5 EV early-adopters are returning to gas, or see an owner’s 20,000-mile review of the Rivian in the video below:
