exactly, people are reversing cause and effect here. first Tesla made desirable cars, then people started fanboying Musk. See this Google trends for Elon Musk searches:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=elon%20m...

Which only started picking up after the Model S was released and started getting great reviews.

The idea that Musk is a "master salesman" or whatever is pretty dumb if you watch any of his interviews. He's definitely good at business, but his fame has been fueled by his achievements alone.