Elon's demand "secret weapon" ...what is it?

[pGo]

Best buy offers Brammo EV bikes for sale. (Edit: looks like that's not the case anymore)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/brammo-enertia-electric-bike/9481615.p?id=1218224467842&skuId=9481615

Why not Apple offer Model S for sale? They'll learn a thing or two about EV customers before jumping in to build their own EV.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Best buy offers Brammo EV bikes for sale. (Edit: looks like that's not the case anymore)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/brammo-enertia-electric-bike/9481615.p?id=1218224467842&skuId=9481615

Why not Apple offer Model S for sale? They'll learn a thing or two about EV customers before jumping in to build their own EV.

I'm going to guess here that BB doesn't need an Auto Dealer's license to sell electric bikes.

Apple would need a dealer's license to sell cars.

It's literally "apples and oranges".

 

[32no]

I wonder if this is the secret weapon against dealers? If so, it's a bit weaker than I expected.

 

[dhanson865]

I wonder if this is the secret weapon against dealers? If so, it's a bit weaker than I expected.

no, that announcement doesn't have the Elon Musk zip pow to it. Definitely not the secret weapon.

 

[Hogfighter]

The wording is interesting, and rules out many options. "I do have a secret weapon on the demand side that will probably start to deploy later this year for demand generation. We’ll see how that goes. It isn’t totally necessary but I think and it could be pretty interesting, I could [indiscernible] dealers."

'Start to deploy' infers a continuing campaign, not a one-time event (such as launching a federal case under the commerce clause against dealers). And what he really said was 'I could use as a weapon against the dealers". So it's clearly tying demand generation to a campaign against the dealers.

He was answering a question regarding the need to have franchises or advertising in the future to increase demand. In my mind, the most reasonable answer is Tesla is planning to spin off (or construct) it's own franchise, not specifically owned by Tesla. There's gotta be some smart lawyers who have figured out a workaround to control a franchise and yet not be specifically run by Tesla.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Also, believe it or not, Elon Musk is still a human (gasp!!), and to dissect every word or nuance in one line of a long conference call, I think, is a mostly fruitless exercise. It's very different from a prepared speech or presentation. Did we really need to scrutinize every single word or phrase like "start to deploy" or exactly what "demand side" means?

I'm sure pretty soon, someone is going to pick out every third word, reverse them, apply some cypher, and post that it's really a coded secret message -- "Jerome is dead. I am the hippo".

 

[igotzzoom]

Elon's demand secret weapon : An electric truck that is better than all current trucks, including the F-150.
Trucks make up a large portion of sales in the auto industry.
If Tesla has been working on a truck all this time, this could be their secret demand weapon.

As an automotive journalist that covers the truck segment, I would love to see this happen, but I think it's at least five years away, at a minimum.

 

[In2oil]

In the Q&A Elon mentions a demand "secret weapon" that he plans to deploy this year... I think it's likely that the TMC collective can guess what this "secret weapon" is...

Some guesses:

federal legislation?
new battery?
major celebrity endorsement?
$2 million super-car?

let the speculation begin

http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/ft6yp5vg

-A pickup truck
-2 door Model S
-120kw battery? unlikely
-supercharger in Cities.
- release of the auto pilot at an earlier date.
-powering your house with a model S

 

[tomas]

Wasn't groundhog's day a couple of weeks ago?

:crying:

 

[JakeP]

As an automotive journalist that covers the truck segment, I would love to see this happen, but I think it's at least five years away, at a minimum.

I thought the home stationary battery was Elon's ace-in-the-hole for five years from now, when our batteries started to show signs of age. Now it's five months away, albeit in Tesla time. Never underestimate Elon Musk!

 

[PokerBroker]

Tesla sales at Best Buy locations!! They could have a third party retailer staff it to control the sales experience and not rely fully on best buy staff. The wireless industry has used this sales model for decades.

 

[Stoneymonster]

Tesla sales at Best Buy locations!! They could have a third party retailer staff it to control the sales experience and not rely fully on best buy staff. The wireless industry has used this sales model for decades.

Best Buy is a horrible place and a company circling the drain. I wouldn't want the Tesla brand in any way associated with them.

 

[tnamgreb]

FREE SELF-DELIVERY: Customers from across the U.S. and Canada purchase and pick up car in Fremont and drive it home using the Supercharger network. Tesla arranges and pays for customers' travel and lodging. I think this would circumvent the dealer issues. Not sure how it would increase demand much.

 

[jerry33]

FREE SELF-DELIVERY: Customers from across the U.S. and Canada purchase and pick up car in Fremont and drive it home using the Supercharger network. Tesla arranges and pays for customers' travel and lodging. I think this would circumvent the dealer issues. Not sure how it would increase demand much.

I don't see how that would help. For many Model S purchasers, this is their first electric car and they are a bit nervous about it. In all likelihood, they aren't going to want to do their first drive as an extended trip.

 

[HankLloydRight]

FREE SELF-DELIVERY: Customers from across the U.S. and Canada purchase and pick up car in Fremont and drive it home using the Supercharger network. Tesla arranges and pays for customers' travel and lodging. I think this would circumvent the dealer issues. Not sure how it would increase demand much.

And all buyers using this method would have to pay CA sales tax regardless of the state they are from.

It's easier just to buy online and have it delivered locally, which people can do in every state.

 

[flankspeed8]

And all buyers using this method would have to pay CA sales tax regardless of the state they are from.

It's easier just to buy online and have it delivered locally, which people can do in every state.

I wonder how easy this would be to get changed. Seems very consumer unfriendly that someone would be double taxed for the sheer privilege of picking up a product in a state where it was manufactured...not registered or titled. CA knows that some state is going to get the tax when it is registered. We love to throw around the greed adjective when dealing with big business....This is greed pure and simple by big state government.

 

[jerry33]

I wonder how easy this would be to get changed.

Almost impossible because the people who would be affected are not California voters.

 

[AudubonB]

I agree that it is unlikely that Sacramento willingly would alter that law. However....TM has made it very clear eventually it will be a multi-plant operator, which also means eventually the State of California no longer will be its sole landlord....as the chess pieces move around, the relative power shifts, too. Interesting!!!!!

 

[Robert.Boston]

I know that Tesla tried hard to get a waiver for factory deliveries, but they got nowhere on that.

Deliveries to states that don't allow direct sales isn't a problem. I bought mine before Tesla had its MA license, so the transaction nominally took place in CA. Tesla arranged a third party shipper to deliver my car, but it was my car, not Tesla's, before it crossed the state line.

 

[CHGolferJim]

I know that Tesla tried hard to get a waiver for factory deliveries, but they got nowhere on that.

Deliveries to states that don't allow direct sales isn't a problem. I bought mine before Tesla had its MA license, so the transaction nominally took place in CA. Tesla arranged a third party shipper to deliver my car, but it was my car, not Tesla's, before it crossed the state line.

Did you have to pay CA tax with that arrangement? Seems like Tesla would love that approach (no delay in recognizing sales during shipping).