Tesla's reputation with consumers took a big hit after a wild year, according to a new poll
- Tesla fell 39 spots in an annual ranking of brand reputation polled by Axios and Harris.
- The survey asked more than 6,000 adults to pick two companies with the best and worst reputations, and asked thousands more to pick the most visible 100 brands in America.
- 2018 was a wild year for Tesla, full of executive departures, production issues, and fights with federal regulators.
An odd year full of regulatory fights, a slew of executive departures, and more has left Tesla falling out of favor with consumers, according to a new poll published Wednesday.
Elon Musk's electric car company fell 39 spots in the Axios and Harris poll of brand reputation to land at spot 42 this year. Compared to other automakers, the company wound up behind Honda and Toyota, but ahead of Ford and Hyundai.
However, Tesla wasn't the company that saw the biggest drop in the poll results this year. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other privacy controversies, Facebook fell 43 places, the only move to top Tesla's fall.
Read more: Tesla owners are more satisfied than any other auto brand's, according to Consumer Reports
Companies that saw major boosts include Samsung and Hobby Lobby, which rose 28 spots each, as well as Sony and 21st Century Fox, which both rose 21 spots.
A Tesla spokesperson declined to comment on the poll results.
The poll was conducted by polling a nationally representative sample of 6,118 US adults, Axios said. Respondents were asked to identify two companies they thought had the best and worst reputations. A separate set of 18,228 adults then ranked the 100 "most visible companies" across "key measures of corporate reputation.