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The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

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Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#161

Post by rangibaby »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #118
BenoitEssiambre wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Tesla's underappreciated marketing technique is the fact that they make buyers feel like they are not just buying a car but they are part of an historically unprecedented epic effort to use bleeding edge tech to save humanity from global warming, dirty fossil fuels and even from being stuck on earth. It's not clear to me if the humanity saving efforts are 100% genuine on Musk's part or if part of them are int…

So what you're saying is that they're buying a Prius with marketing?

and sex! The Prius' problem has always been that it looks like the healthy low-fat gluten-free quinoa kale almond milk salad of cars.

The best word I can come up with describe Toyota's car designs is "inoffensive". They aren't necessarily bad, and they are easy to drive and comfortable to ride in, but they are mainly generic and forgettable. Being mass market cars like they are I guess that is kind of the point.

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#162

Post by sergers »

jgalt212 wrote: post #160
brandmeyer wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, in the full-size luxury (US) car market the Tesla Model S is dominating. http://gas2.org/2016/02/15/tesla-model-s-outsells-mercedes-b...

is this fake news?

In comparison to specific lines/cars that are at similar price/market it's true.

Model s is outselling BMW 7 series sedans and Model s is outselling mercedes S-class sedans.

It's definately not a blanket statement, the volumes of mentioned lines are low

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#163

Post by mark-r »

gozur88 wrote: post #137
mark-r wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they're in the business of making money. Selling cars is the means to the end. If they can make more money selling fewer cars, they'll do it. You need to look at the overall fleet sales - somebody somewhere has calculated the exact number of each vehicle they need to sell to maximize the profit.

It only hurts them to sell more Bolts if those sales cut into other vehicles or if they're selling at a loss.

It's quite possible that either or both of those are true. Or it could be that they have limits on their manufacturing capacity and would have to cut back on production of something more profitable to make more Bolts. There are probably other factors that you and I wouldn't think of in a million years.

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#164

Post by true_religion »

untog wrote: post #34
RKoutnik wrote: post #19

This article (like many) misses why people buy Teslas. Teslas are amazing cars that just happen to be electric - not the other way around. The large car companies think that "electric" is enough to sell a car, whereas Tesla knows they need luxury options, autopilot & the supercharger network. I've got a Model 3 reservation myself and wouldn't even think of switching to the Bolt. I want a nice car, not just an electri…

I don't doubt you're correct in summarising why many current Tesla owners buy Tesla cars. But if they want to be hugely, mass market successful they need to expand their client base beyond customers who "need" luxury options in a car. It's Tesla that would need to match GM's market proposition, not vice versa. > I want a nice car, not just an electric one, and Tesla's got that in spades. And I suspect many Bolt owner…

Tesla has a lamentable number of luxury options. It has even fewer than Porsche has in its 911, and that is a car known more for its speed and handling than anything.

People looking for luxury would be better suited buying Mercedes, or BMW for that same price range.

Tesla is a luxury car, but not of the 'lovely interior' type. It's more like Porsche---luxury in terms of an extreme in high technology related to driving.

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#165

Post by maxerickson »

mark-r wrote: post #163
gozur88 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only hurts them to sell more Bolts if those sales cut into other vehicles or if they're selling at a loss.

It's quite possible that either or both of those are true. Or it could be that they have limits on their manufacturing capacity and would have to cut back on production of something more profitable to make more Bolts. There are probably other factors that you and I wouldn't think of in a million years.

Earlier I was trying to find some other takes on their output and 1 article mentioned that the plant they are building it at is only running 1 shift, which puts it at 90,000 vehicles per year. It's a mixed line with the Chevrolet Sonic, which probably isn't super profitable. So they can flexibly shift production from the Sonic or they could expand production by an awful lot, but I guess to add a shift they would need much higher sales volume.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-bolt-idUSKBN1300PM

GM has also recently announced that they are idling several plants in January because they aren't selling enough cars.

http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2016/12...

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#166

Post by FussyZeus »

eip wrote: post #80
FussyZeus wrote: post #8

Tesla proved that eco-minded cars didn't need to be ugly, yet ALL other manufacturers continue to produce only ugly cars (they don't get points for bootstrapping hybrid models of existing cars). I am amazed none of the other purveyors of electric cars have managed to figure this out. Even the BMW offering ranks high on the "God what the hell" scale in terms of its design. The Prius started this stupid trend of cars f…

>yet ALL other manufacturers continue to produce only ugly cars It's like they are having a competition to make the ugliest car ever.

That's long over. The Nissan Juke. I don't think it's possible for a car to look less appealing and still function.

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#167

Post by FussyZeus »

threeseed wrote: post #37
FussyZeus wrote: post #8

Tesla proved that eco-minded cars didn't need to be ugly, yet ALL other manufacturers continue to produce only ugly cars (they don't get points for bootstrapping hybrid models of existing cars). I am amazed none of the other purveyors of electric cars have managed to figure this out. Even the BMW offering ranks high on the "God what the hell" scale in terms of its design. The Prius started this stupid trend of cars f…

Tesla also has the worst interior of any premium car company. It has the unique combination of feeling cheap: unappealing leather, plastic finishes as well as tacky: the giant computer screen. It's all fine if Tesla is competing with Mazda but they aren't. And frankly they need to do much better in the future to go against the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Range Rover etc.

I've sat in my bosses a number of times, it IS plastic, yes, which is a ding, but it at least gives the passing appearance of being made of much better plastic than say, my 300.

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#168

Post by kalleboo »

jaimex2 wrote: post #102
threeseed wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla also has the worst interior of any premium car company. It has the unique combination of feeling cheap: unappealing leather, plastic finishes as well as tacky: the giant computer screen. It's all fine if Tesla is competing with Mazda but they aren't. And frankly they need to do much better in the future to go against the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Range Rover etc.

First I've heard of them having bad interiors.

Really? I hear about it in every comments section and YouTube review

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#169

Post by eip »

FussyZeus wrote: post #166
eip wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>yet ALL other manufacturers continue to produce only ugly cars It's like they are having a competition to make the ugliest car ever.

That's long over. The Nissan Juke. I don't think it's possible for a car to look less appealing and still function.

I would probably take a Juke-R over a Tesla.

Re: The Chevy Bolt Is the Ugly Car of the Near Future

#170

Post by closeparen »

zippergz wrote: post #81
RKoutnik wrote: post #19

This article (like many) misses why people buy Teslas. Teslas are amazing cars that just happen to be electric - not the other way around. The large car companies think that "electric" is enough to sell a car, whereas Tesla knows they need luxury options, autopilot & the supercharger network. I've got a Model 3 reservation myself and wouldn't even think of switching to the Bolt. I want a nice car, not just an electri…

If you don't care about the electric drive, there are MUCH nicer cars available at the same price as a Tesla. It doesn't even compare. This is why I don't have a Tesla. I could afford one, but I have spent a lot of time in them, and they do not feel like a car in the price range that they are. The interior is fine, but not premium. The touch screen makes it feel like you're driving a computer, not a vehicle (not in a…

I think the missing piece that explains Tesla's success is that they got Prius owners to buy $90k cars. They aren't cannibalizing the 7-series owners, who know what to demand at that price point; they're getting people who would previously never dream of spending so much on a car, and never have.
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