Latest "Finalize your order" date

[allanb4me]

Its not MW, Porche, Audi, Land Rover, Volvo.
Its Tesla!

 

[gregincal]

How many 80-100k cars are sold in the US each year? The great majority of car sales are 50k and below. We shall see. I hope I'm wrong. I hope Tesla takes off like a bat out of hell. I just think it's tough to sell luxury cars in volume. There are few companies that do. BMW, Mercedes (in the US at least), Porche, Audi, Land Rover, Volvo. If you look at their sales, the great majority are below 80k.

So it's a very expensive car. You need to have a range of vehicles at different price ranges to be a major player. Being from silicon valley doesn't change that equation.

Yes, but that's the all or nothing logic I read from the ev haters all the time. Sure to be a "major player" they will need a less expensive car. But you were questioning their ability to sell 20,000 cars a year world wide, which is a fraction of the annual sales of any of the car brands listed above. Porche alone sells 10000 cars a month and they sell about 35000 911's a year, a car that's definitely in the price range you mention. The BMW 5 series, which starts at about the same price as the base Model S sold over 300,000 last year. Sure the great majority of BMWs sales are at the low end, but they sell 1.5 million cars a year. Give Tesla time to slowly expand, but I believe the Model S will be a hit.

 

[ZestyChicken]

You say Porche alone, but of those, Porche is pretty much the only one that sells mostly in that price range. They have been an institution for decades. There are huge clubs that race Porches. Tom Cruise drove one in a movie and uttered the catchphrase "Porche, there is no substitute." Point is, Porche is the outlier. Can Tesla be the same? I hope so. The better bet is to try to be a Mercedes/BMW.

We will see. I'm hopeful. They have a President who wants them to succeed for the next 4 years.

You know the funny thing is that Barrack never hyped Tesla after all the attempted bashing the Reps were doing. He should have jumped in one and got a test drive. Pimp it as the new economy he wants the government investing in.

 

[JackA]

ZestyChicken: According to the WSJ (Source motorintelligence.com) During the month of January 2013 Luxury cars were 14% of total North American auto sales. Mid-sized cars made up 48% and Small cars 38%. There were about 534,000 cars sold in January. This means that about 75,000 luxury class cars were sold in one month.

 

[ZestyChicken]

ZestyChicken: According to the WSJ (Source motorintelligence.com) During the month of January 2013 Luxury cars were 14% of total North American auto sales. Mid-sized cars made up 48% and Small cars 38%. There were about 534,000 cars sold in January. This means that about 75,000 luxury class cars were sold in one month.

A $40,000 BMW is considered a luxury car. A 325. How many of those are sold versus the 80,000 740i? How many of those customers are willing to switch to a radically different type of car?

I actually read that same article. I was looking for some information re that specific cost bracket. If you can find that info, it would be more germaine. I couldn't locate it.

 

[gregincal]

A $40,000 BMW is considered a luxury car. A 325. How many of those are sold versus the 80,000 740i? How many of those customers are willing to switch to a radically different type of car?

I actually read that same article. I was looking for some information re that specific cost bracket. If you can find that info, it would be more germaine. I couldn't locate it.

OK, how about this. The Mercedes S class starts at about $90,000, and they sold over 75,000 of them last year (and mercedes is third in luxury car sales worldwide behind BMW and Audi). I'm not sure why you keep saying 80K-100K either. While it's true that a lot of Model S's may be that expensive, you then compare to base prices of other models. A 60kWh Model S is going to be under 70K after tax rebate.

Again, there are no plans for Tesla to only stay in the price segment forever, their whole plan is based on moving down into lower cost segments and compete with the BMW 3 series. The question here is whether they can sell enough Model S's to fund that transition (and the goal is 20,000 per year). I believe the answer is yes.

Mods, feel free to move this whole discussion to a more appropriate thread.

 

[Desai]

So excited. I know I have been on this forum and read quite a bit of let downs with the delivery team. However, I have to say - my process was above expectation! So for a change of some good feedback for Tesla's Reservation, Inside Delivery, and Delivery teams!

I have been following Tesla since 2006 and have been anxiously waiting for mine. Here is my timeline:

2012.04.22 - Reservation made (coincidentally it was Earth day)
2012.07.14 - First test drive at Amped Tour just made the wait much harder
2012.11.13 - Finalized the configuration
2013.01.18 - Delivery timeframe received for Feb 21 - Mar 7
2013.02.04 - VIN issued
2013.02.05 - Purchase Agreement received
2013.02.06 - Confirmation of delivery for Feb 15th @ 12:00 PM!

P8460 VIN# 4802:
- Black Paint
- All Glass Panoramic Roof
- 19" Wheels
- Black Leather Interior
- Obeche Wood Gloss Décor
- 60 kWh Battery
- Tech Package
- Sound Studio Package
- Active Air Suspension
- Rear Facing Seats
- Paint Armor
- Supercharging

Next Friday can't come soon enough!

 

[Omer]

A $40,000 BMW is considered a luxury car. A 325. How many of those are sold versus the 80,000 740i? How many of those customers are willing to switch to a radically different type of car?

I actually read that same article. I was looking for some information re that specific cost bracket. If you can find that info, it would be more germaine. I couldn't locate it.

We should probably get back on topic but I can't help throw out one more comment. I fully agree with you about the size of the market and the difficulty selling $100k cars. Yes a base Tesla can be had for $60k but it's usefulness is limited for many drivers. However, as I mentioned earlier about their choice to do a Model S at the given price point and follow up with the X, there was never any other choice. There was never any way for anyone to produce a $40k all electric with sufficient range for 2012 - 2016. Doing the simple math on the cost of battery makes that apparent. Nissan and Chevy are selling cars at cost and they barely hit that number with significantly less range (and remember Tesla would need margins unlike GM/Nissan). The only way to sell mass quantity will be to wait until 2016/17 at the earliest but if Tesla waited that long they wouldn't exist and would have a hard time penetrating then because by then every manufacturer will have electric cars. The only way to produce an electric car today with a margin and have a worthwhile range is to do high end luxury. The issue is if they can sell enough cars. Whether they do or don't again it was the only choice. Now hopefully they've done enough on design/quality that they can move enough cars to keep them operating, expand base operations, and develop the brand to take advantage of the market in a few years when the economics are more favorable.

 

[ZestyChicken]

We should probably get back on topic but I can't help throw out one more comment. I fully agree with you about the size of the market and the difficulty selling $100k cars. Yes a base Tesla can be had for $60k but it's usefulness is limited for many drivers. However, as I mentioned earlier about their choice to do a Model S at the given price point and follow up with the X, there was never any other choice. There was never any way for anyone to produce a $40k all electric with sufficient range for 2012 - 2016. Doing the simple math on the cost of battery makes that apparent. Nissan and Chevy are selling cars at cost and they barely hit that number with significantly less range (and remember Tesla would need margins unlike GM/Nissan). The only way to sell mass quantity will be to wait until 2016/17 at the earliest but if Tesla waited that long they wouldn't exist and would have a hard time penetrating then because by then every manufacturer will have electric cars. The only way to produce an electric car today with a margin and have a worthwhile range is to do high end luxury. The issue is if they can sell enough cars. Whether they do or don't again it was the only choice. Now hopefully they've done enough on design/quality that they can move enough cars to keep them operating, expand base operations, and develop the brand to take advantage of the market in a few years when the economics are more favorable.

That is definitely true. The only way they'll be able to sell a 30k car is for huge improvements in battery tech allowing cheaper batteries. There is a ton of promising work going on now so it's probably possible in 5-8 years. We'll be swapping our 300 mi batteries for 600 and paying $15,000 it (hopefully). The weight might come down too.

Battery breakthrough: New technology promises to triple lithium ion capacity - GeekWire

 

[rlpm]

Some of us no longer have a reservation sequence number showing up on the My Tesla page. Did it vanish off everyone else's My Tesla page as well? If it has, then it's either a glitch, or the wait between reserving and finalizing is no more than a few days, so there's no longer a reason to show it! (At least, in the U.S.)

This page still mentions the sequence number:
Buying a Tesla, Our Approach | Tesla Motors

So maybe this is good news for those of us whose sequence numbers have disappeared? Or not. :\

 

[Doogue]

This thread veered way off topic, but let's get it back on by saying, "Congrats, Desai" on the milestone. Very cool. I hope I'm not far behind.

 

[Desai]

This thread veered way off topic, but let's get it back on by saying, "Congrats, Desai" on the milestone. Very cool. I hope I'm not far behind.

Thank you Doogue! It definitely is a milestone and I am now anxiously waiting for this week to go by.

 

[joefee]

Who will be the last "finalizer" before earnings call Monday?

 

[Beano]

Some of us no longer have a reservation sequence number showing up on the My Tesla page. Did it vanish off everyone else's My Tesla page as well? If it has, then it's either a glitch, or the wait between reserving and finalizing is no more than a few days, so there's no longer a reason to show it! (At least, in the U.S.)

This page still mentions the sequence number:
Buying a Tesla, Our Approach | Tesla Motors

So maybe this is good news for those of us whose sequence numbers have disappeared? Or not. :\

RLPM - same thing happened on my My Tesla Page. It disappeared on Wednesday (I was hopping it was a birthday present) - but I don't know the cause.

 

[dsm363]

Maybe the reservation numbers were causing too much trouble with people comparing numbers and expecting them not to be delivered out of order.

 

[rlpm]

RLPM - same thing happened on my My Tesla Page. It disappeared on Wednesday (I was hopping it was a birthday present) - but I don't know the cause.

Maybe the reservation numbers were causing too much trouble with people comparing numbers and expecting them not to be delivered out of order.

Yeah, I think the trouble coupled with the reduction of reservation-to-finalization time is the reason.

 

[fluxemag]

Just finalized #14875...and now we wait. I'm not good at waiting. Finally got conditional approval from PenFed today, and clicked the button 5 minutes later.

 

[aja2460]

Flux emac, how. Long did PenFed take?
Alan

 

[Neech]

Just finalized #14,444. Wish I knew PenFed gave conditional approvals before I very nervously hit the button. This is the most I EVER spent on a car. And I very rarely buy anything that is not on sale. So, this purchase is huge for me. Going to look into blood pressure meds :-] to get me through the waiting process.

 

[fluxemag]

Flux emac, how. Long did PenFed take?
Alan

I already have my wife's car financed through PenFed (after reading about it on this forum months ago) so my account was already there. I don't know exactly how long it took because they never called me back and I had to call them again 3 days later. The guy I spoke with was familiar with Tesla, so his manager was able to give me conditional approval without a VIN. We'll see how well that works 3 months from now when I call back with a VIN. I'm guessing they will have to do it again but maybe I'm just being cynical.