I don't think your ability to understand English is the issue.
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Elon Musk Discussion - Tesla Brand Damage
- Thread starter Chucko
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zoomer0056
Active Member
Tesla is not Elon's company. It is a publicly traded company that has shareholders. Smoking pot almost cost Elon his security clearance with SpaceX, that shows he is irresponsible and should not be trusted as a CEO so I will say this again, smart CEOs dont talk about politics publicly and you rarely hear about their personal comments about anything other than the Business that they are responsible for. They understand by doing so can hurt the brand.
I thought everyone hated Elon and Tesla after he bought twitter.
I love my 2023LRY more than any car I've ever owned, and I respect Musk for his creative genius. But, if he gets in bed with Trump, I'm going to be embarrassed to own the car.It's been sort of a given that Elon Musk's association with the Tesla brand has both positive and negative connotations, but over the last couple of years it seems to have heavily tilted towards the negative. He seems to spend more time operating in tilt mode than he ever has. It all seemed to take a dark turn when he boasted about buying twitter. Since then it's been a real shizenpantz show.
As an owner of a couple of Tesla vehicles, I initially was willing to ignore some of his stupidity. Now I'm not so sure. Knowing what I know now I would not purchase a Tesla. My fear is that he will end up blowing it all, sacrificing any and all good will and market leadership that Tesla currently enjoys, and eventually will kill the company dead.
I think the final straw for me was the recent layoffs. From the outside looking in it is obvious there was no plan. It was just him and his emotional cannon going off. There is no way in hades that any of this can have a positive spin to it.
I read everything Elon Musk posted for a week. Send help.
If your media diet looked like his, you’d be red-pilled too.www.motherjones.com
What’s happening at Tesla? Here’s what experts think.
Can things be turned around at Tesla, or is this the beginning of the end?arstechnica.com
It really appears that this guy should not even be left in charge of his own life, much less a multi-billion dollar company.
Thoughts?
Yes, I know this will bring out the Musk fanboys, but if you look at him and what he's doing frankly and objectively, you may come away as alarmed as I currently am.
fholbert
Active Member
That's when it started for me. Not so much that he bought Twitter, just he was such an a** hole about it.
You know when I bought my model S, Tesla was really the only game in town. I still believe in EV's but have my doubts about Tesla.
Now there are some pretty decent alternatives. Lucid, Rivian, Polestar will be on my shopping list when the time comes to replace my model Y. I can not see buying another ICE vehicle ever again.
The EV's from Hyundai and Kia also look interesting. Times are a changing.
i love the rivian but im trying to figure out what i'd use it for... the occasional camping trip it would be nice.. but its a worse road tripper than the model y and a worse in town / commuter car than the model y... i find it hard to justify for my needs and it cant really tow either ...
ive rented a couple polestars no thanks
the Kia's imo are the best alternative right now but still cant beat that charging network.. i need every charger i can get when im out in middle of nowhere utah and new mexico
I do not plan to purchase another Tesla at this point. When it comes to the vehicles, many of the changes are unwelcome for my preference. Most of these changes that I don’t like come from the direction of the CEO.
People can debate me on what Tesla still does better and try to convince me how terrible my ownership experience will be with another manufacturers EV, but it won’t change my mind. I don’t like the current trajectory of Tesla vehicles. I see a lot of potential in the upcoming vehicles from the competition. I’ve owned ICE vehicles from several brands over the years and have a good idea of the general differences in what they offer. I follow the BEV industry close enough to understand my options.
The public persona of Musk wouldn’t matter to me as much if he wasn’t making decisions that directly affect my current and potential future vehicle ownership experience.
I believe there is a massive amount of talent working for Tesla. I don’t believe Musk understands the value of those people demonstrated by his recent layoff decisions. Layoffs happen, but not like this and not by way of tantrums. His actions demonstrate a lack of understanding for what makes Tesla a standout in the BEV industry. They demonstrate the worst of management skills. They demonstrate an amateur approach to project management.
I could go on, but my point should be clear. I believe Musk’s time as a leader at Tesla has come to an end. If he remains, Tesla is going to continue down a controversial route and may not be able to fully realize their vision for sustainable energy solutions. It’s going to take a few years to recover and develop products that bring customers like me back. I do not believe Tesla can do that with Musk at the helm.
People can debate me on what Tesla still does better and try to convince me how terrible my ownership experience will be with another manufacturers EV, but it won’t change my mind. I don’t like the current trajectory of Tesla vehicles. I see a lot of potential in the upcoming vehicles from the competition. I’ve owned ICE vehicles from several brands over the years and have a good idea of the general differences in what they offer. I follow the BEV industry close enough to understand my options.
The public persona of Musk wouldn’t matter to me as much if he wasn’t making decisions that directly affect my current and potential future vehicle ownership experience.
I believe there is a massive amount of talent working for Tesla. I don’t believe Musk understands the value of those people demonstrated by his recent layoff decisions. Layoffs happen, but not like this and not by way of tantrums. His actions demonstrate a lack of understanding for what makes Tesla a standout in the BEV industry. They demonstrate the worst of management skills. They demonstrate an amateur approach to project management.
I could go on, but my point should be clear. I believe Musk’s time as a leader at Tesla has come to an end. If he remains, Tesla is going to continue down a controversial route and may not be able to fully realize their vision for sustainable energy solutions. It’s going to take a few years to recover and develop products that bring customers like me back. I do not believe Tesla can do that with Musk at the helm.
zoomer0056
Active Member
It's been controversial since day one.
That is Tesla.
Tesla will continue to challenge the status quo in thinking, design and manufacturing.
I like it.
Your points here made me think about something I've been pondering over the last several months, particularly since Musk has all but announced that the entirety of Tesla is shifting toward autonomous driving platforms, with sloppy seconds for any net new vehicle platforms meant for human drivers. It's a big bet without a doubt - maybe it's a good bet maybe it's not - only time will tell.
Either way, apart from that, what I've found myself pondering is when people make what is the second largest net purchase decision for most families, that being their personally owned vehicles, a big part of that decision making process is, will the manufacturer back the product post-sale to our required level of satisfaction. We generally care more about the post sale/service experience and whether their will be service centers that are relatively close by and available in the event something goes awry with our large purchase, than anything else. When Musk starts talking about going "balls to the wall toward autonomy", the hidden message is that all other company direction will suffer on some level, as is clearly evidenced by the layoff of the entire SC team (granted, a few are being hired back now), and big cuts to the service departments. This all sends the wrong message both to existing customers, and especially to net new customers. Tesla's revenue will likely exceed $100bb annually this year, this is a large cap company now, attempting to continue to behave like a small cap company, it doesn't have to be a one trick pony any longer. Musk's singular focus on one bet, is simply unnecessary, and all of this idle talk about capital efficiency really isn't applicable when you already have over 5mm vehicles on the road today - meaning 5mm+ existing customers - that need good service and support - even if autonomy takes hold next year - which is highly unlikely - this will play out over 10-20 years most likely - there are still millions of existing customers and millions of net new buyers out there - so Tesla needs to focus on more than one thing at a time. Hopefully that's exactly what is happening, but there's somewhat of a question mark as to whether this is really the case - and as long as there's a question mark - a significant subset of more traditional buyers will stay away - regardless of the incentives provided.
jabloomf1230
Minister of Silly Walks
Most early adopter buyers like it - the problem is - this represents only 10% of the consumer base - which is now saturated - now we're dealing with the next segment of more traditional buyers - and they don't care near as much about a disruption oriented company - they want to buy a reliable well built product from a company that clearly states they will be around over the long haul with service and support for what is the second largest net purchase decision for the vast majority of families. When the CEO keeps talking about shifting the entire company to AI/autonomy - that's not going to encourage traditional buyers to buy a Tesla vehicle IMHO.
zoomer0056
Active Member
People and media started saying that Tesla is a disruptor several years ago. But the truth is that the legacy automakers disrupted themselves while trying to catch a train that had already left the station.
Things change all the time. Saying "we are committed to serving you" is just white wash that does not hold up to the weather. Tesla will always be innovative, no need to state that ... just look at the record.
I disagree. It's actually more critical for a company like Tesla that has actively chosen to embrace vertical integration as opposed to using an independent dealership model. The dealership model in place today evolved over time for this exact reason - the car manufacturers didn't want to have to maintain a large base of service centers - so they broke off the car dealerships by design to offload the need to provide sales and services. There are obviously pros and cons, but one of the biggest pros is that it's the dealer networks that provide the service commitments, with the indirect backing of the manufacturers. Tesla, having embraced vertical integration, is required to provide the large base of service centers and sales centers directly. Again, there are pros for taking his approach, but there are cons as well. If the leader of Tesla is out there saying he's reinventing the entire company via AI/autonomy, that's going to likely have a negative impact on future sales of existing products that aren't in line with this new vision. If Tesla utilized an independent dealer model, this wouldn't be as important an issue from a consumer standpoint as long as the dealers can still get parts and have the indirect backing of the manufacturer for warranty work.
i think its hard to talk about "brand damage" without talking about the pulse of america (and the rest of the world)
zoomer0056
Active Member
I think the only personal attacks allowed are on people who aren't members of TMC. It would be very interesting if Elon Musk became a member.
The Cybertruck is late, overpriced, missing features and has more failures than any other Tesla before it.
The refreshed Model 3 is decent, but doesn’t diverge much from the previous design in any way that is out of the norm compared to any other manufacturer model refresh. The Model Y refresh is presumed to be similar to the 3 since they’re basically the same car with some minor differences.
The S and the X are stale.
Cybercab/Robotaxi is still a pipe dream.
Roadster, if it ever materializes, will be a toy for the rich and, along with the Cybercab, takes resources away from building what would have been the mass-market “Model 2” that was way more interesting, realistic and needed for Mass BEV adoption and revitalization of the American Auto industry.
Tesla has stagnated in recent years under Musk’s leadership. I don’t see innovation. I see late products, vaporware, missteps and distractions. That’s not the kind of challenge to the status quo I want to see.
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