111–120 of 376 posts
Tesla shorts can't get a break. First a smooth $1B+ capital raise without a stock hiccup and now this.
This is why you should purchase put options instead of short selling. Exposure to short selling is theoretically infinite. Exposure to put options is just the price you paid for the option. Shorting generally should only be for companies whose solvency is in doubt.
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> Marketing can influence consumers' affinity for brands and perception of product quality. It can't change economics. Actually, I would say marketing is one of the few things that actually can change economics, since it affects perception . Marketing can make someone think they need a new car when they don't, or that a car is affordable than an alternative when it really isn't (given financing, fuel economy, service…
You can make all the theoretical arguments you want, but the fact remains: when gas prices go up, sales of trucks and SUVs goes down. And vice-versa. You think car companies want to change their assembly lines and tooling, if they can magically change consumer buying habits with a bit of advertising? Come on.
If I was attempting to make an argument against that, I would have done so. You seem to have mistaken my comment as some rebuttal to your entire argument. I just thought one specific point was interesting, but not entirely correct from my point of view.
> You think car companies want to change their assembly lines and tooling, if they can magically change consumer buying habits with a bit of advertising? Come on.
Since you're asking, no, I don't think car companies want to change anything. That doesn't mean they won't be forced to change, and I think being forced to change rarely works out as well as noticing the trends and changing along with, or better yet, slightly in advance of those trends.
It's obvious by the change in types of cars bought based on gas prices that gas prices influence buying decisions for many people. But influence does not necessarily mean control. Many factors go into the decision of which car to purchase, electric or not. Fuel cost is but one of those factors. Tesla has shown that there are people that buy based on other decisions, since the price of a Tesla means that fuel costs are basically moot. Luxury, performance and status are all factors that the automakers and intimately familiar with marketing towards and selling to, usually each to varying degrees with different products. That they've left these areas mostly untapped for electric vehicles after Tesla has shown there is a market, since there were 400k+ Model 3 preorders as of roughly a year ago, leaves many people confused, and I don't think it can be entirely explained away by gas prices. That's enough presales a year ago to be on par with yearly Camry sales. GM is obviously doing something to try to tap into this with the Bolt, but that's still one entry and at the low-end.
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Yup, which is why any entrenched player is going to have to both build an incredible car and fight against their dealerships to sell it.
Actually, the reason GM "doesn't care" about the Volt (I'm exaggerating here; they obviously care a little bit ) is because they're rational: electric cars are not popular with mass-market consumers, and it's far from clear that they're going to become popular. GM is investing in what sells, and right now (i.e. for the last decade or two), that's SUVs and light trucks. Which doesn't bode well for Tesla, at least in t…
It's not about what market segment that sells, it's that dealers have no incentives to sell electric vehicles since there's no margin on services and maintenance.
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What kind of company would you call it?
Every company these days is a tech company in some respects, but I don't think Tesla fits the bill in the general sense. Tesla is a green energy manufacturing company. The only reason I think this matters is their finances are a lot different than a tech company. You are correct that Tesla is currently priced like a tech company though, so maybe I'm way off!
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Yup, which is why any entrenched player is going to have to both build an incredible car and fight against their dealerships to sell it.
Actually, the reason GM "doesn't care" about the Volt (I'm exaggerating here; they obviously care a little bit ) is because they're rational: electric cars are not popular with mass-market consumers, and it's far from clear that they're going to become popular. GM is investing in what sells, and right now (i.e. for the last decade or two), that's SUVs and light trucks. Which doesn't bode well for Tesla, at least in t…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yup, which is why any entrenched player is going to have to both build an incredible car and fight against their dealerships to sell it.
Actually, the reason GM "doesn't care" about the Volt (I'm exaggerating here; they obviously care a little bit ) is because they're rational: electric cars are not popular with mass-market consumers, and it's far from clear that they're going to become popular. GM is investing in what sells, and right now (i.e. for the last decade or two), that's SUVs and light trucks. Which doesn't bode well for Tesla, at least in t…
The cost is coming down. Chevy is now selling the Bolt, which has pretty good range, for under $40,000. Tesla's Model 3 is coming soon. More will follow. The high cost comes from the batteries, which are getting cheaper all the time.
I'm not sure that "unpopular" is quite the right word. A lot of people really like Teslas. Most of them can't afford them. The desire is there, the means is not (yet).
It's smart to invest in what sells right now... until things change and that's no longer what sells. GM is investing in what sells today. Tesla is investing in what might sell in a decade or two. Tesla's approach isn't certain but if they're right then GM is going to relive their experience of the 1970s where they take way too long to react to a changing market.
> For Musk to hit all of his targets, Tesla would need to build about 430,000 Model 3s by the end of next year. That’s more than all of the electric cars sold planet-wide last year.
> Even if half of the Model 3 inventory shipped to other countries, 2 U.S. sales under Musk’s targets would outpace the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes C class—combined.
> To sell that many $35,000 sedans in the U.S. “would be absolutely unprecedented based on what we know about car markets today and how people spend their dollars,” said Salim Morsy, electric car analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “It could happen. I’m pretty sure it won’t.”
If they could pull this off this might be a great investment by Tencent.
It's also great for the car industry and environment as well. Especially considering their work on automated driving. If they get that many cars on the road it would give them a ton of data and a big advantage/lead in AI over other companies. But it could also be setting the bar too high and setting them up for failure (even though they might otherwise have nailed targets).
Regardless, as a design fan it would be interesting to see so many Teslas on the road. They are great looking cars.