Articles re Tesla—Fact or Fiction?

[JRP3]

I saw a documentary on the AMC Pacer and the Model 3 does have some risk of suffering from the same problem the Pacer had. The Pacer sold in record numbers the first year on the market, but then sales fell off a cliff the second year because while it really appealed to some people, they saturated that market in the first year.

I think the Model 3 is more likely to have a broader appeal across the market and the Pacer had problems, but that is a real risk Tesla faces.

We might need to take your Tesla Fan Boi card away for comparing the Model 3 and the AMC Pacer

Interestingly there were a number of EV Pacer conversions

 

[wdolson]

I am seeing many new buyers in my area who were not reservation holders. The difference here with the Model 3 vs. your AMC Pacer situation is that the Pacer was unique only in its style that was attractive to some but not all, whereas the Model 3 is different in that it is the most fun, best driving, safest car ever made.

The analogy has a number of holes. The Model 3 looks better and had some real features over other cars out there. On the other hand Tesla fit and finish does lag behind industry standard and the backups at the service centers are reaching crisis proportions. Tesla increased the fleet dramatically this year with very little service support expansion. They did expand ranger service, but there are still a lot of services that can't be done by rangers.

 

[JRP3]

On the other hand Tesla fit and finish does lag behind industry standard

Is that still the case?

 

[wdolson]

Is that still the case?

It's getting better, but they still lag the rest of the industry. When I was helping out at the delivery center at the end of September I took a few minutes to look over the panel gaps on a Model 3 awaiting delivery. Some were tight, but some were around 5 mm.

 

[PeterK]

I am seeing many new buyers in my area who were not reservation holders. The difference here with the Model 3 vs. your AMC Pacer situation is that the Pacer was unique only in its style that was attractive to some but not all, whereas the Model 3 is different in that it is the most fun, best driving, safest car ever made.

I've also heard of (and know one) families who reserved and bought Model 3s, then went back and bought a second and even third one. And there are still so many areas where you don't even see Model 3s.

 

[gene]

I've also heard of (and know one) families who reserved and bought Model 3s, then went back and bought a second and even third one. And there are still so many areas where you don't even see Model 3s.

Well here is my driveway:

 

[oneday]

Well here is my driveway:View attachment 345112

You’re going to need more solar panels.

 

[gene]

You’re going to need more solar panels.

You are only looking at less than 1/2 of my solar panels.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

 

[wdolson]

Yup. When I was a kid a friend of mine's mother got a Pacer when they were introduced. I thought they were pretty ugly then.

His parents had mixed results in taste in cars. His step father had a 1978 anniversary Corvette, but when it came time to get a car for my friend and his brother (they were a year apart), they got a canary yellow Vega.

 

[Electroman]

Bloomberg is now going beyond just publishing hit pieces on Tesla. The have now made a short video explaining Model 3 is poorly built.

Go there and show them in the comments on how much you love the car.

 

[matejpi]

They can't even show the right car in the video...

 

[PeterK]

CNBC recycling the same things from the 2015 LA Times article, in a video. They can claim it’s balanced, eg they include Tesla’s statement about subsidies and mention that other companies receive even more, but the tone is clearly slanted against Tesla. Sinister-sounding music, statements like Tesla “took advantage” of a government loan program, etc. And while they really harp on the $485 million loan and state it was paid back at least, they don’t mention the size of the Ford and Nissan loans nor that they are still outstanding.

 

[winfield100]

a moderately positive Tesla article on <gasp> Seeking Alpha pointing out how Tesla is basically winning with the S, X, 3
(comments section is still bad, but article is OK, by Randy Carlson)
Tesla, Universe And Everything? - Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) | Seeking Alpha

 

[The Blue Owl]

Garbage editorial about Tesla from USA Today. Be sure to vote in the poll at the end of the article.

 

[wdolson]

Bloomberg is now going beyond just publishing hit pieces on Tesla. The have now made a short video explaining Model 3 is poorly built.

Go there and show them in the comments on how much you love the car.

Sandy Munro was initially critical of the Model 3, but after he got to look over a newer one and after doing the analysis on the parts list he said Tesla is able to make the Model 3 at a good profit. Even early on he said the rest of the auto industry should take Tesla's electronics seriously. He said Tesla's electronics are a generation or more ahead of the rest of the car industry and are on par with the latest generation mil spec electronics.

I didn't have time to watch the video, but it looks like they cherry picked Munro's comments to make things look as negative as possible.

 

[JRP3]

I find DeBord "uneven" at best, rather than balanced. Two years ago he was calling for Elon to step down as CEO of Tesla, a terrible idea
It’s time for Elon Musk to think about turning the Tesla CEO job over to someone else by Matthew DeBord – Business Insider
But at least he seems to have gotten it right this time about the Model 3.

DeBord getting it wrong again: Short-seller Andrew Left is now long Tesla — but he's making a potentially disastrous mistake
Monumentally stupid statement:

For starters, Tesla isn't disrupting anything; rather, it's replacing gas-powered propulsion with electric motivation, a technology available for over a century.

 

[S'toon]

Elon Musk promises Tesla will post 3rd quarter profit but Wall Street skeptical | CBC News

 

[Zythryn]

Hey all, I need some help with this one.

Reuter's site has this piece on it. It reads slanted against Tesla, but has so much information, I am way over my head.
Breaking down Tesla’s balance sheet

It is by Christine Chan and Dan Burns.

The main focus is debt, and shows an impressive amount that Tesla has.
However, I know very well it is normal for a company to carry debt and looking at GM financials, quite a bit of debt.

I'm looking for a good summary of why this seemingly large debt, either isn't that large and/or nothing to be overly concerned with.

 

[PeterK]

Hey all, I need some help with this one.

Reuter's site has this piece on it. It reads slanted against Tesla, but has so much information, I am way over my head.
Breaking down Tesla’s balance sheet

It is by Christine Chan and Dan Burns.

The main focus is debt, and shows an impressive amount that Tesla has.
However, I know very well it is normal for a company to carry debt and looking at GM financials, quite a bit of debt.

I'm looking for a good summary of why this seemingly large debt, either isn't that large and/or nothing to be overly concerned with.

I haven’t looked at the financials recently or this article, but know that SolarCity was a source of some of Tesla’s debt. Their original model was to lease the panels to customers at an effective rate that was lower than their electric bills. Avoiding the up-front purchase made the choice of solar much easier, but SolarCity needed to finance the projects they were leasing with debt. By the time of the acquisition by Tesla they were shifting away from that model to straight sale or sale with financing, but still had a lot of accumulated leases and debt. A number of shorts who were going after SolarCity became Tesla shorts as a result, like Gordon Johnson of Vertical Group.