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Model 3 inventories up -- any deals happening?

Discussion in 'Model 3: Ordering, Production, Delivery' started by Robert A, Mar 14, 2020.

  1. OCR1

    OCR1 Active Member

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    Inventory showing up and constantly changing has always been the norm. When a vehicles is assigned to a reservation number it no longer shows as available. If someone cancels or postpones an order that reallocates the car to inventory. If they change their mind about color, options, or trim level that reassigns vehicles in inventory.
     
    • Informative x 1
  2. Jeffgtx

    Jeffgtx Member

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    And I don’t buy they sold 1000 cars yesterday. But neither of us has the data to prove it. For the record I don’t Think it’s a conspiracy theory. I think they took them offline but I don’t know why. Thankfully we have the internet to allow us to needlessly debate it!

    if they sold 1000 cars yesterday , by percentages, at least one m3p in the Bay Area would’ve disappeared and I did not see that.
     
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  3. OCR1

    OCR1 Active Member

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    Well, at the end of the day it’s up to Tesla to decide if they want to discount their cars and it’s up to buyers to decide how much they want to pay for them. Whether they have 1,000 or 3,000 in stock seems irrelevant to me. If you don’t want to pay full price you are not going to regardless of how many thousands they have available.

    But selling 1,000 cars over a three day weekend across 50 states is not that significant. That is an average of 7 cars per day per state.
     
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  4. ElectricIAC

    ElectricIAC Devil’s Advocate

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    You don’t have to buy it but as someone in the Auto trade I can say for certain that scarcity, real or implied creates a sense of urgency.

    That’s why large auto groups do very well in used autos since one can’t just point at a car and say “that pumpkin has been sitting there for 6 months” because it’s likely been bounced from store to store in search of a buyer.

    Tesla claims to be vastly different but in reality they use some of the same tricks everyone else uses to make sales. Because it works.
     
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  5. mattack4000

    mattack4000 Active Member

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    Some of the discounts of late have been overblown too as they have all been demo or showroom cars on the 3. I wish people would put that in perspective.
     
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  6. ElectricIAC

    ElectricIAC Devil’s Advocate

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    And more than likely those will be the only discounted cars.

    I love a hot deal as much as the next guy (My P3D+ was a 7K mile demo sold as new) but Tesla doesn’t really have anything to gain by discounting or offering outsized incentives on new and untouched inventory at this time and in fact they are protecting current owners resale values by standing firm on that.

    Masking the true level of available inventory also aids in both those goals.
     
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  7. mattack4000

    mattack4000 Active Member

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    I believe they were doing that in 17 18 n 19, but you don’t see many new cars coming off the line with discounts. I was offered a performance for 2k off and it only had 250 miles on it
     
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  8. ElectricIAC

    ElectricIAC Devil’s Advocate

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    Investing in a new production line has its costs and even if they were hemorrhaging money initially in the production cycle units sold mattered to keep investors interested. 2020 as a whole will be interesting as it’s the first year without any federal subsidy in the USA and of course the current global event.

    In short. If you’re looking to buy, look for the best deal available when you actually need the car.
     
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  9. OCR1

    OCR1 Active Member

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    OK, let’s go with your theory. Try to make the cars look scarce to create a sense of urgency. How does the average car buyer determine how many cars Tesla has in stock? The only thing Tesla publishes is local inventory in their zip code, not national inventory. I just looked at inventory in my zip code and there are 50 cars in stock. So there certainly is no shortage in my neighborhood.

    So where are they creating this perception of scarcity that will cause consumers to react?
     
  10. mattack4000

    mattack4000 Active Member

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    I just noticed all the fart cars have barely any discounts. A performance model with 400 miles is going for the same price as new, ouch.
     
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  11. MasterC17

    MasterC17 Active Member

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    Tesla has never had a demand problem, they have had a production problem. Now that production is stopped, why would they be discounting cars? It's not going to happen.

    As I previously posted, Tesla has never discounted cars. They have price adjustments but only when the car has more than 50 miles on it in which case I wouldn't really consider that a discount, but rather a price reduction based on the mileage accrued on the vehicle considering it is not longer technically "new" and you take delivery of it as-is with cosmetic wear and tear. You wouldn't buy a Model 3 from a private party with 5,000 miles on it and claim you got a discount, right?

    And how is it hard to believe Tesla sold 1,000 cars in NA in 3 days? Considering they delivered more than 60k cars in NA in Q4 2019, 1,000 cars in 3 days would be below average.
     
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  12. ElectricIAC

    ElectricIAC Devil’s Advocate

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    It’s not inconceivable but at the same time: Do you know anyone who bought a new Tesla this weekend?
     
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  13. MasterC17

    MasterC17 Active Member

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    I know that 88,000 people took delivery last quarter, at least 1/3 of which was affected by the coronavirus in the US and even more-so in other markets like China.
     
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  14. byeLT4

    byeLT4 Member

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    While this statement is true, we are in new territory currently. I'll list some reasons starting with what I think has the most impact-

    Coronavirus, job/pay uncertainty, retirement/stock uncertainty, some even fearing company uncertainty
    Model Y, just another option where there was none. Also trading in the 3 for the Y, more used 3 options
    Cybertruck, last I heard there was 500k orders, surely a few were thinking 3 and (especially) now will wait for the truck
    Plaid S/X coming, maybe a different price point but, used S/X prices are dropping so it is an option vs the 3

    Interesting times ahead.
     
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  15. Jeffgtx

    Jeffgtx Member

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    again... less than 1000 cars per day across all regions and models.

    then 1000 model 3 in one day in one country. And not a single post here all weekend from a delivery recipient. Seems unlikely.
     
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  16. Robert A

    Robert A Member

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    You seem pretty convinced about that, but I doubt that Tesla is immune to market forces. I've seen this before: Car companies with the hottest vehicle in the world are eventually forced to adjust prices. You may be right that they won't, but I bet there's a lot more to the story than simple supply and demand. For instance, they could be forced to incentivize their inventory to meet certain financial obligations.
     
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  17. mreynolds767

    mreynolds767 Member

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    I have seen watched before this Virus on the used side Telsa remove and then relist the same cars over and over.
    They seem to have a reason for doing so, it makes sense this why the numbers are fluctuating.

    Rather than focus on that though, focus on the facts that they have at most 14000 new Model 3 cars to sell in the North American market and they may not be able to make any more this quarter.
    That to me is a very small number to carry them through many weeks ; no matter how bad the economy currently is.
    Most are still taking a temporary view so while some directly affected will hold off on a new vehicle, enough people will still want one.
     
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  18. ElectricIAC

    ElectricIAC Devil’s Advocate

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    Temporary doesn’t even begin to describe it.
    This nightmare could end today, at this exact minute with all affected cured but the economic harm will linger for far longer.
     
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  19. Kappatown35

    Kappatown35 Member

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    Tesla in my local market went from 16 new cars to 13 to 17 in the matter of two days. It could be people canceling but
     
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  20. dmurphy

    dmurphy Woof.

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    Yup. Several, in fact. Couple of Y's, some 3's.
     
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