Tesla trade-ins in the U.S. are at an all time high as some owners become disillusioned with Elon Musk’s politics, and some just want to avoid their car getting keyed by Musk haters.
Automakers are pouncing on the opportunity.
Polestar, Lucid Motors, Volvo, and Ford — which have long trailed Tesla in EV sales — have taken advantage of the pushback against the brand by releasing conquest bonuses and incentives that challenge a buyer’s brand loyalty.
Shortly after Polestar began offering its $5,000 discount, the automaker’s head of sales Jordan Hofmann said the bonus was already a success.
“This week saw some of the highest order days for Polestar 3, and the response to our Tesla Conquest Offer has been incredible” Hofmann wrote on LinkedIn.
Most of the offers don’t require buyers to actually trade in their Teslas to qualify, though Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst at Edmund, says the trend is certainly pointing towards EV owners making the switch due to the automaker’s recent brand devaluation.
Musk’s use of his wealth to help elect Donald Trump to office and his subsequent takeover of the federal government via DOGE have led many to associate Teslas with the controversial billionaire. A protest movement known as Tesla Takedown has spread globally. Meanwhile, there has been an increase in vandalism of Tesla property and vehicles. The more violent attacks, which have included arson, have incurred the wrath of President Trump, who vowed to treat such incidents as “domestic terrorism.”
Whether a Tesla owner is on the side of the protesters or just doesn’t want someone spraypainting a swastika on their car, Yoon said buyers are willing to get rid of their vehicles at a loss.
“What these kinds of conquest bonus programs are capitalizing on is that these guys are going to [trade in their Teslas] anyway. What if we make it a little bit sweeter for them and make sure they come to us instead of a competitor?” Yoon said.
On the automaker side, Sean Tucker, lead editor at Kelley Blue Book, told TechCrunch the economics of trade-ins are different at the moment due to Tesla’s unique situation.
“Ordinarily, when a dealer takes a trade-in, they either just put it into their own used side of the business and sell it, or in some cases, they’ll sell it to an auction company that’s going to then sell it to a different dealership. So they sometimes take a mild loss on them, but in a normal market, they can avoid it,” Tucker said. “That’s really different with Tesla right now because it’s so hard to fix the resale price of a Tesla in an environment where their public image is just changing so quickly.”
Tucker noted that smaller brands like Polestar and Lucid are willing to take a loss on a trade-in in order to take a Tesla off the road and put one of their vehicles on the road.
And Yoon said it makes perfect sense for the two upstart EV makers to target their marketing towards their main competition.
Early indicators show Musk’s political activities have negatively affected new car sales. It’s unclear if these trade-in incentives and discounts will make a dent in Tesla’s share of the EV market.
The consequences of Trump’s new automotive tariffs could further complicate outcomes as buyers seek out lower cost vehicles.
“Tesla’s big edge is that its most popular vehicles are manufactured here and very few imported parts,” Yoon said. “A lot of these new EVs have a lot of foreign sourcing involved in their parts and manufacturing. So who knows how this will pan out?”
Tesla trade-in options
Polestar began offering a special $5,000 discount for Tesla drivers looking to lease the company’s new Polestar 3 crossover in February. That deal, plus another $15,000 of Clean Vehicle Incentives to consumers who lease, could get Tesla owners a total of $20,000 off a model year 2025 EV for making the switch.
Lucid Motors also quietly began offering Tesla owners up to $4,000 in discounts when they purchase a 2025 Lucid Air sedan – $2,000 for buying the car, and another $2,000 if you trade-in your current Tesla. Lucid is also sweetening the deal by taking another $1,000 off the top for vehicles available at a sales studio location at the time of the order.
Both Polestar and Lucid say buyers must take delivery before April 30.
In mid-March, Volvo launched its own nationwide incentive, offering customers who currently own or lease any Tesla a $1,000 bonus to buy or lease a 2024 fully electric Volvo or any 2025 or 2025.5 (mid-year refresh), as long as they take delivery before the end of April. That means buyers don’t even need to buy an EV to take advantage of this deal. The only 2025.5 model that Volvo has at the moment is the XC90 plug-in hybrid SUV.
Ford just closed its $1,000 discount to Tesla owners making the switch to a new Mustang Mach-E or F-150 Lightning. The discount was available to buyers who took delivery before April 2.
A Ford spokesperson told TechCrunch the automaker has nothing to share on current or future incentives.
