One of the largest online lending marketplaces LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE) reached out to me this morning with an interesting study they have conducted using auto loan data inquiries they gathered for around 2 years from their platform.
The study finds out that electric carmaker Tesla is quickly reaching the top of the charts when it comes to people inquiring about automotive loans online.
When this data was analyzed for specific luxury car models, Tesla Model 3 and Model Y topped the chart with the 1st and 2nd positions respectively. Interestingly, Tesla Model S also found its place among the top 10 with the 6th position (see chart below).
With 6.6% of all the inquiries made for luxury cars, Tesla Model 3 has the largest share of auto loan queries made on the LendingTree platform. Its closest competitor is Tesla’s own Model Y electric SUV with a 4.7% stake.
BMW 3 Series is in the 3rd position with a 4.3% share for luxury car inquiries made on LendingTree for the last two years. BMW 5 Series scored 2.2% and BMW X5 did 1.7%. The total for BMW on the Top 10 chart is 8.2%.
With the Model S occupying a 1.9% share of the search for luxury cars in the United States, Tesla holds a total of 13.2% share of this interest.
LendingTree found that 1 in 5 auto loan inquiries in the US is for luxury cars. In metros like San Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles the percentage is even higher and Tesla seems to hold the crown in this segment with a promising future.
Specifically, San Jose, Calif., ranks highest. Nearly 4 in 10 (39.5%) of the auto loan inquiries in the metro are for luxury cars. Following that, San Francisco ranks second (39.4%), with Los Angeles (38.4%) third.
Study by LendingTree
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The following chart is also interesting as it proves that Tesla is rapidly taking over BMW as the most popular brand when it comes to luxury cars. In the overall analysis for luxury car queries made on LendingTree, Tesla came in 2nd position with a 14.4% share just behind BMW which holds a 17.5% stake.
Since Tesla is catching up fast and is still in the process of scaling up its production, it might just be a matter of a few years before Tesla rules this chart as well.
Seeing Porsche in the 10th position with only 4.0% of the inquiries, is not a good feeling, especially after the advent of the Taycan EV.
Another interesting chart to look at from this analysis is the percentage of queries for luxury cars made from the top 10 states in the United States. One might easily guess it would be California — but it is the District of Columbia with 32.4% and 35.5% respectively.
analysis by LendingTree spanning 2 years (July 2020 to June 2022).
LendingTree.com is one of the most widely-used platforms that potential car buyers search for auto loan options. On average, it has around 7.5 million visitors every month who are looking for cars and other loans online (source: similarweb.com).
You can read the detailed study by LendingTree here, it has several more findings that you might be interested in learning about.
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