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Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

latimes.com

171–180 of 225 posts

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#171
post #8

>Of more concern to Tesla investors: What if he knows something they don’t know about the company’s financial future — and is hoping to hang any failure on the nasty, overreaching regulators rather than his own dubious management skills? That seems very possible. I think the reality of scaling up Tesla to live up to its valuation might be too daunting for Elon to handle. It might even be impossible. EV sales as a % o…

> If EV's do take off, it's likely to be the established car manufacturers who are good at making cars at scale who eventually capitalize on the opportunity. This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. I never even hear about the other EV's by themselves, only as the competition to Tesla. Anybody who watches the news would have known that the Model 3 was a colossal fa…

Do you pay attention to other cars besides tesla?

What Tesla killers have failed?

> Last I heard they got the price down to $45K, so they are in striking distance of the $35K target and won't stop there

Are they? That's a 20% price drop still to go.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#172
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If EV's do take off, it's likely to be the established car manufacturers who are good at making cars at scale who eventually capitalize on the opportunity. This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. I never even hear about the other EV's by themselves, only as the competition to Tesla. Anybody who watches the news would have known that the Model 3 was a colossal fa…

> every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound That's true, but I think it's because of bad marketing rather than bad technology. The Chevy Bolt has the specs to beat the Model 3, but it is being positioned as a low-end car, a competitor to the Honda Civic rather than the Model 3. Power seats, for example, are not even offered as an option. That is not a car a rich person is going to buy to impress thei…

The model 3 is supposed to be a competitor to the Honda Civic.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I think you're right, but that may be an even harder gap to close than tech. Good Marketing: Crazy genius CEO who is always in the news, builds rockets in his spare time, launches his car into space, smokes weed with Joe Rogan, and constantly thumbs his nose at the authorities. Customers like this company so much that the CEO can ask for volunteers and actually get a response. $0 advertising budget. All marketing…

According to their SEC filings, Tesla spends between $60 and $100 million annually on marketing, and they've definitely placed billboards in major cities since I have seen several of them in the LA area.

Was true for a while. I guess that's no longer the case.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#174
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound That's true, but I think it's because of bad marketing rather than bad technology. The Chevy Bolt has the specs to beat the Model 3, but it is being positioned as a low-end car, a competitor to the Honda Civic rather than the Model 3. Power seats, for example, are not even offered as an option. That is not a car a rich person is going to buy to impress thei…

Yes I think you're right, but that may be an even harder gap to close than tech. Good Marketing: Crazy genius CEO who is always in the news, builds rockets in his spare time, launches his car into space, smokes weed with Joe Rogan, and constantly thumbs his nose at the authorities. Customers like this company so much that the CEO can ask for volunteers and actually get a response. $0 advertising budget. All marketing…

> $0 advertising budget.

uh, what's elons PR budget?

Toyota. Don't know the CEOs name. Instead I "know" that they produce vehicles with extremely high quality that will last me a good long time. I "know" that my F-150 will get the job done. My BMW is a status symbol.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. The "Tesla killers" have been sleeping, but they are about to wake up. No doubt Tesla jump started the market, but the other manufacturers have decades of experience. On top of that, no other car maker has the problems that Tesla does due to its CEO and his inability to stop tweeting. Whilst Tesla had a start start, it fel…

- with what supply of batteries? They'll always be behind Tesla without the gigafactory - how will they sell them? Dealerships are 100% hostile to EVs, they won't bring in the maintenance business - Oh, you think the giants are good at customer service? The only difference in complaints in your example is that dealer networks distribute the dissatisfaction, but Tesla forums get all of them

> with what supply of batteries? They'll always be behind Tesla without the gigafactory

With supply chains setup years in advance because they know how to do logistics.

> - how will they sell them? Dealerships are 100% hostile to EVs, they won't bring in the maintenance business

Fair, but not insurmountable.

> Oh, you think the giants are good at customer service? The only difference in complaints in your example is that dealer networks distribute the dissatisfaction, but Tesla forums get all of them

Every company is at shitty at customer service as they can be while not destroying their business.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. The "Tesla killers" have been sleeping, but they are about to wake up. No doubt Tesla jump started the market, but the other manufacturers have decades of experience. On top of that, no other car maker has the problems that Tesla does due to its CEO and his inability to stop tweeting. Whilst Tesla had a start start, it fel…

Funny it took them so long to do so given the huge bankrolls behind these companies and that none of the tech is new whatsoever. Good on them for changing their ingrained oil economy mindsets though. I'm sure it was entirely a moral choice by the hundreds of big auto execs worldwide.

Companies aren't moral. They do what makes them money, mostly in the short term.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If EV's do take off, it's likely to be the established car manufacturers who are good at making cars at scale who eventually capitalize on the opportunity. This is what I used to think, but every year the "Tesla killers" fail to kill, or even wound. I never even hear about the other EV's by themselves, only as the competition to Tesla. Anybody who watches the news would have known that the Model 3 was a colossal fa…

Musk has already promised a $25k Model 3 in 3 years. https://electrek.co/2018/08/17/tesla-cheaper-25000-electric-...

Musk has promised lots of things.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#178
post #8

>Of more concern to Tesla investors: What if he knows something they don’t know about the company’s financial future — and is hoping to hang any failure on the nasty, overreaching regulators rather than his own dubious management skills? That seems very possible. I think the reality of scaling up Tesla to live up to its valuation might be too daunting for Elon to handle. It might even be impossible. EV sales as a % o…

I agree, that Musk is hiding something, one that would seriously hamper his reputation. I think it might have to do something with the Solar City acquisition. He doesn't want to admit he fucked up and failed because it would cast doubt on all his other half-baked ideas. Tesla will definitely feel the pressure from other car manufacturers, but so far it has nothing much to worry about as the only really viable game ch…

It's not hidden, Tesla has massive debts coming due and the stop price is nowhere near the point where they can get away with not paying cash.

The Model 3 is a reasonable 30k car. maybe 35. If they can actually get the price down to that point it might be worth it.

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#179
post #40
post #8

>Of more concern to Tesla investors: What if he knows something they don’t know about the company’s financial future — and is hoping to hang any failure on the nasty, overreaching regulators rather than his own dubious management skills? That seems very possible. I think the reality of scaling up Tesla to live up to its valuation might be too daunting for Elon to handle. It might even be impossible. EV sales as a % o…

It'd be daunting even if he weren't simultaneously running a space launch company and personally leading the rocket engine design team: https://twitter.com/lrocket/status/1099411086711746560?s=21 Though if it's all too much and he'd rather focus on rockets, I don't see why he wouldn't just step down as Tesla CEO. If things go south he could just blame the new CEO.

> personally leading the rocket engine design team

and the propulsion department

Re: Is Elon Musk trying to commit ‘suicide by SEC’ by taunting the agency?

#180
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be daunting even if he weren't simultaneously running a space launch company and personally leading the rocket engine design team: https://twitter.com/lrocket/status/1099411086711746560?s=21 Though if it's all too much and he'd rather focus on rockets, I don't see why he wouldn't just step down as Tesla CEO. If things go south he could just blame the new CEO.

Musk is basing his entire funding plans for Mars colonisation in Tesla succeeding. Read his new CEO contract, it's another moon shot. He doesn't intend to step down any time soon. Apparently a new wave of shorts FUD has started to spread now which probably means Tesla has something new to unveil and people are preparing for the next round of hate. Let's see how the semi and the Y turn out.

Engaging in blatant stock manipulation then blatantly violating your SEC settlement is not "shorts FUD".
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