If Customer Confusion Hurting Tesla, Too: Best Option to Fix?

[22522]

I could be wrong. Let's look:

1) Tesla is discounting: Tesla is reportedly offering big discounts on some of its fastest cars Getting the attribution right is hard, but discounting is not an indicator of demand. Speculators selling at over list is.

2) Data on cross shopping shows Toyota second: Why Tesla’s Mass-Market Car Should Scare Mercedes and BMW

Those are Prius owners who want to be green. The "different market segment" did not apply when there was only one Family Tesla (sorry roadster folks). Many buyers in the existing S demographic would be fine with a smaller car, but not a different set of friends. To keep the different market going, significant differences in exclusivity are required. The size of the car is not the only definer of market differences.

3) I don't know if releasing the 60 coincident with the new nose was a good idea, as it set a lower reference price for the product.

4) Yeah, I agree. The auto pilot revision may be freezing buyers, it depends on how informed the buyers are. Let's look after the new AP is shipping to get a better sense of attribution.

5) Yeah, if product cost were only hardware. But access to the super charger network, and the people who use it has value. Some have a concept of membership in a club. The product price has membership value. Confusion about this value may have helped drive demand to 400K

6) Total agreement. Resolving ambiguity will help laser focus.

Let's see how it plays out, specifically the introduction of autopilot.

 

[22522]

There is another option: pretend the model 3 does not exist. That is what competitors do. Silence on the matter may help, because people will forget about it from a decision making perspective.

 

[BluestarE3]

There is another option: pretend the model 3 does not exist. That is what competitors do. Silence on the matter may help, because people will forget about it from a decision making perspective.

Can't you take this a step further and pretend competitors don't exist so people will forget about any other car company from a decision-making perspective?

 

[22522]

Can't you take this a step further and pretend competitors don't exist so people will forget about any other car company from a decision-making perspective?

Yeah, it is standard marketing to never mention a competitor, with exactly that idea in mind. Saturate with focus on you. I think Prius almost did that near the Super Bowl.

 

[Drivin]

This is an excellent question and shows aggressive thinking.
Don't be discouraged by the negative people here. They are probably shorts.

To freeze out all other sales I think the communication path is very simple.

1. Announce an increase in production to match the number of cars sold in the US. Add a little extra in case it stimulates demand. Call it approximately 18,000,000

2. Communicate that there will be no more delays, not even a couple of days for blog posts. "We are serious this time"

3. Communicate an aggressive and complete expansion of superchargers.

 

[22522]

To freeze out all other sales I think the communication path is very simple.

1. Announce an increase in production to match the number of cars sold in the US. Add a little extra in case it stimulates demand. Call it approximately 18,000,000

2. Communicate that there will be no more delays, not even a couple of days for blog posts. "We are serious this time"

3. Communicate an aggressive and complete expansion of superchargers.

Hey, Hey. Wait a minute... What about the Model S? Let's adjust a bit to keep Tesla brand exclusiveness and associated cash flow going, so as avoid a drought. Remember, Elon's deal for the bicycle thieves might actually close the tap.

Adjusted:

1. Install the machine that makes the machine at the gigafactory. It is "just" a step and repeat. Transporting lithium batteries is a drag, so some stage of assembly wants to be there anyway.
2. Use actions to communicate a culture of meeting commitments. The point is parents want positive role models to point at - every chance they get. They will pay for that in a daily driver.
3. There is a margin riff raff issue with the Model 3 clientele, like me. Tesla is an exclusive club that warrants premium pricing. Use other people's money to build out a high rate DC charger network. "Tesla free charging" customers get free use as terms of the license. A lot of this money could be public money with this broad audience service model. Early customers would be Tesla owners, but the public money documents would state that these benefits accrue to EV owners. Geographic emphasis would be as a zero emissions gateway of super chargers around every large city that has air pollution issues - a ring of chargers for every city with signs that state "we don't need no stinking badges." (Day of week license plates). These would be strategically placed so that even eBMWs could get into and out of town without emitting.

Yes, with these adjustments, particularly number 3, we freeze virtually all vehicle sales except existing Tesla Models S and X. And if you look at how August vehicle sales are down. Even the Honda Accord is down 26%, it has already started. Particularly, even, Honda Accord people are now saving for a Model 3.
August US auto sales down; carmakers say industry has peaked

 

[Jason S]

The poll question and some of the communication here seems to devolved into some sort of niche-speak. Given the use of language, I'm going to assume marketing-speak.

I don't even dabble in that language, so prolly don't understand the nuances. Sentences like "Remember, Elon's deal for the bicycle thieves might actually close the tap." appear to violate so many rules of English composition for clarity that I must treat it as another language.

However... some points.
- signature series is NOT happening for Model 3. Period. There are also no more of the sig series for Model S or X, except secondary markets. Pretty sure sig series is simply done at Tesla. So that poll question can simply be removed.
- I don't follow how sig series for a car line = status for the line. Seems to be an assumption, not a fact.
- The comparisons to other manufactures cars bringing new customers in and keeping them seems appropriate. The lower end cars and higher end cars are there to try to capture a customer for life. Most customers' first new car is not in the Model S/X price range.

Freezing out all other car sales has never been part of the master plan. Oh, sure, it would be nice if the demand supports it. BUT the plan is not assuming that and even considering it isn't a fact based thought process imho.

 

[22522]

Sentences like "Remember, Elon's deal for the bicycle thieves might actually close the tap." appear to violate so many rules of English composition for clarity that I must treat it as another language.

Yes, this is latest stockholder meeting speak.

 

[Alketi]

Sentences like "Remember, Elon's deal for the bicycle thieves might actually close the tap." appear to violate so many rules of English composition for clarity that I must treat it as another language.

 

[theslimshadyist]

Comparing a Model 3 to a Model S would be like trying to compare a BMW 3-Series to an M5!