i don't get it. The company hasn't turned a profit, suffers from constant production problems, can't meet current order demands, the cars that are coming out have quality control issues (fit and finish, mostly), yet everyone wets themselves over the announcement of an upcoming car model - two models, counting the semi. The way things are going, there may not be a Tesla by 2020. If there is, I wouldn't count on it cranking this and the semi out in any volume.
I get the feeling that Elon didn't really intend Tesla to turn a profit. He did it to goad the rest of the industry into action. He did it to show the people it was possible, to take it seriously to show that a lot of the party lines regurgitated by the industry was bullshit.
That's generally how low production high end cars work. By their nature they tend to have a lot of waiting involved, exclusivity and scarcity plays into their appeal in a market based on want vs need. Unlike the Hyundai buyer, these people aren't looking for the same experience (if they've taken any time to educate themselves.) Exoctics like lotus are known for having poor fit and finish, but being fun and giving bragging rights. Most Ferrari are closer to a Gokart in comfort than to a Bentley, they are race cars you can drive on the street and it shows. Ferrari senior himself was said to have quipped on his customers having more money than brains, but he was glad to take their money to finance his passion for racing. Like a fan camping a week ahead for first screening of a movie or copy of a pre realease game, like a new iPhone or so many things it makes little sense unless it is your passion. As for profit- Amazon's shopping is in the same boat basically. It's not always about profit
No. That electric vehicles are possible.
Radical paradigm shifts are often a losing prospect for the first generation.
Tesla, Space-X? Elon took the torch and ran with it. Quite literally.
@guest_ same thing with Lambos. Lambos are nearly impossible to drive happily on a regular street... it's like taxi-ing a SR-71 around. They only show what they really are on a track.
Anyway, even if Tesla never turns a profit (it will, eventually), they have already revolutionized the industry and that cannot be denied.
Everyone thought he was crazy with SpaceX, but now the dude is sitting around trying to bring a rocket into works that could carry well over 10x the payload the Saturn V or the SLS can into production.
He's like the engineer version of James Cameron. If you doubt him, you are most likely going to get burned.
People tend to overlook or downplay the failures of "great" innovators once they got one big success. History will tell, but Tesla has advanced the technology and profile of certain "forward thinking" technologies and ideas. As said, many huge businesses run without profit or notable gain on the books. There are many tricks and loopholes to book keeping, and siblings monwy up front to own a major market later is always a gamble but an old strategy. As for "showing the industry how it's done", I doubt that's his intentions. He is trying to integrate his product into society in such a way that it becomes essentially indisposable. Much like the "too big to fail" banks and airlines we rely on. He doesn't have to make money, he just has to lose money longer than anyone else in the game. It's attrition. They already license their technology to other companies. The roots run deep and they are becoming a major part of the local Bay Area economy to the point where they can make moves.
That's how most institutions work. Banks did it, now companies like pay pal etc. are trying to do it. That was the whole point I made. It's nothing new. It's not an innovative strategy, and before petroleum dominated transportation and after steam had fallen out of favor for light transport, electric has always been seen as the future of transport. Urban centers used to be dominated by electric transport. The political and technological conditions are currently in the right place to try and make a move, and like many "great innovators" in history one just happened to be in the right place/time/position and know how to generate publicity to capitalize versus all the others working on the same goal. We may never travel to LA via tube, but if Tesla hits big that will be a "fun fact" footnote to the legacy of the "father of electric cars" in the future.
Of course, that's how science and technology works, but I trust they will "deliver" because they've done damned well so far.
Unlike Toyota's Prius protections and their advertisements. That almost got them in some serious hot water.
He is doing it becasue no one else would.
Radical paradigm shifts are often a losing prospect for the first generation.
Tesla, Space-X? Elon took the torch and ran with it. Quite literally.
Anyway, even if Tesla never turns a profit (it will, eventually), they have already revolutionized the industry and that cannot be denied.
Everyone thought he was crazy with SpaceX, but now the dude is sitting around trying to bring a rocket into works that could carry well over 10x the payload the Saturn V or the SLS can into production.
He's like the engineer version of James Cameron. If you doubt him, you are most likely going to get burned.
Unlike Toyota's Prius protections and their advertisements. That almost got them in some serious hot water.