Tesla was named the most-loved car brand by AutoTrader

• The UK-based online automotive marketplace surveyed over 60,000 vehicle owners.
• Respondents highlighted the tech features - including the semi-autonomous Autopilot system, over-the-air updates, and touchscreen - and electric propulsion systems in their vehicles, as well as the community formed by electric-vehicle owners.

British car-shopping website AutoTrader named Tesla the most-loved auto brand for 2019, using feedback from a survey of over 60,000 car owners. Alfa Romeo and Land Rover finished as the runners-up.

Respondents highlighted the tech features - including the semi-autonomous Autopilot system, over-the-air updates, and touchscreens - and electric propulsion systems in their Tesla vehicles, as well as the community formed by electric-vehicle owners.

"Our research shows that pioneering technology and the feel-good factor of electric motoring certainly play their part in Tesla owners' enthusiasm about their cars, but there's more to it than that," AutoTrader road-test editor Ivan Aistrop said in a statement. "Tesla has managed to make electric motoring cool, and that's a trick that not many other electric car manufacturers have managed to pull off so far."

Aistrop added, "what owning a Tesla says about you seem to be as important to owners as the car itself, and for a company trying to build brand loyalty and desirability, that's a masterstroke."

Tesla received a similar award from Consumer Reports, which in February named it the most satisfying auto brand for the third consecutive year, though Tesla ranked 19th among 33 brands in the publication's overall ranking of auto brands for 2019. (The former only included owner feedback, while the latter also included tests conducted by Consumer Reports.)

Tesla's Model S sedan, first released in 2012, won AutoTrader's 2019 award for the best green car. Respondents highlighted the vehicle's power, acceleration, and cost efficiency.

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