Franz von Holzhausen - Tesla Versus The World

[vfx]

Tesla VS the World

The new issue of Automobile Magazine is on the future of cars (with an understated Volt on the cover).

There is a brief article interviewing Tesla's new designer and how thrilled he is to be with the company.

Have not found an online version yet,.

 

[dpeilow]

Franz von Holzhausen - Fuel Efficient News, Car Features and Reviews - Automobile Magazine

 

[stopcrazypp]

Check your link, VFX...

I think it's just doug merged the threads, since dpeilow's post was originally it's own thread.

 

[malcolm]

Interesting balancing act between:

As the idea becomes more mainstream, the quirkiness of the product will go away

and

We are not seeing any new design statements

I totally agree that Model S should strive to be an Apple product in a PC world, but it's really difficult to get that right in such a mature and well-established area as car design. Luckily for Apple, computers and hand-held players are still relatively new.

Should Tesla play safe with the styling in order to achieve higher sales volume or go for something more striking to try to set a new trend?

He's certainly raising expectations on Model S. Maybe much higher than can be achieved realistically.

 

[graham]

Should Tesla play safe with the styling in order to achieve higher sales volume or go for something more striking to try to set a new trend?

It is an interesting question. If they play it "too safe" I believe they will have lower sales volumes... and "too striking" will have the same effect. I assume getting that balance correct is the difference between a good professional car designer and... well... me trying to do the same thing.

 

[dpeilow]

I think you can have striking and classy at the same time - that is good design.

 

[vfx]

Artists often talk in loftier terms than their art could ever reach. Just trying to set the mood and raise their staus.

As to the Apple comparison, it's a dicey road. The 7 to 10 percent Apple share does not fit Tesla's vision of a major car company but it certainly does fit the brand loyalty that the new PR guy had built at Harley Davidson.

Sometimes these fringe brand loyalties go mainstream. Maybe Tesla will ride the green wave that is slowly welling up across the country.

 

[graham]

As to the Apple comparison, it's a dicey road. The 7 to 10 percent Apple share does not fit Tesla's vision of a major car company

Oh, I am not 100% sure of that. Steve Jobs used to tout all the time that Apple's computer market share was bigger than the car market share of Mercedes and BMW combined. And that was back in the days where Apple had much less market share than it does today.

Not that Steve hasn't been known to stretch the truth from time to time, but I think Tesla would be very happy to get to the point that they were as big a player as Mercedes.

 

[vfx]

as to the apple comparison, it's a dicey road. The 7 to 10 percent apple share does not fit tesla's vision of a major car company but

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[dpeilow]

Would anyone dispute that Apple are a major computer company though? Only Dell and HP are bigger.

That would be a good position for Tesla to get to.