D2C Modeli: Tesla Türkiye Örneğinde D2C’nin Uygulamalı Değerlendirmesi

This study aims to practically evaluate the direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model pioneered by Tesla in the Turkish market and to reveal the strategic advantages of this model. At the same time, the effects of the D2C model on brand control, customer experience and digital commercial opportunities in the context of its relationship with marketplaces are analyzed. A mixed method approach was adopted; in the qualitative part, Tesla's official Website in Turkey was analyzed through content analysis, and in the quantitative part, LDA topic modeling, sentiment analysis and word cloud techniques were applied on 193 posts collected from the X (former Twitter) platform. By eliminating intermediaries, the D2C model offers firms the advantages of interacting directly with the customer, reducing costs and increasing brand control. In the case of Tesla, personalization, user-friendly interface and integrated digital experience support these benefits. According to the social media analysis, 54.40% of users expressed negative and 36.79% positive opinions, indicating the need for improvement in the digital customer experience. By eliminating intermediaries, the D2C model offers firms the advantages of interacting directly with the customer, reducing costs and increasing brand control. In the case of Tesla, personalization, user-friendly interface and integrated digital experience support these benefits. According to the social media analysis, 54.40% of users reported negative and 36.79% positive opinions, indicating that there are significant gaps in the digital customer experience.

This study aims to practically evaluate the direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model pioneered by Tesla in the Turkish market and to identify its strategic advantages. At the same time, the effects of the D2C model on brand control, customer experience, and digital commercial opportunities are analysed in the context of its relationship with marketplaces. A mixed-method approach was adopted: in the qualitative phase, Tesla’s official Turkish website was analysed through content analysis, while in the quantitative phase, latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modelling, sentiment analysis, and word cloud techniques were applied to 193 posts collected from the X (formerly Twitter) platform. By eliminating intermediaries, the D2C model offers firms advantages such as direct interaction with customers, reduced costs, and enhanced brand control. In the case of Tesla, personalization, a user-friendly interface, and an integrated digital experience reinforce these benefits. According to the social media analysis, 54.40% of users expressed negative opinions and 36.79% positive ones, indicating significant gaps in the digital customer experience. The study emphasizes that the D2C model should be supported not only by digital infrastructure but also by strategic marketing and customer-centric design elements. Tesla’s D2C implementation demonstrates the potential of the model in terms of commercial independence, brand control, and data-driven decision-making.