willow_hiller
Well-Known Member
Uh, take a second look at the inventory. There hasn't been a single inventory Model 3 within 200 miles of me for weeks. Similar thing reported across the US. They sold them all around the end of Q3.
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Uh, take a second look at the inventory. There hasn't been a single inventory Model 3 within 200 miles of me for weeks. Similar thing reported across the US. They sold them all around the end of Q3.
Tiger
Active Member
whitex
Well-Known Member
I noticed the inventory has emptied recently (in the last couple of days it dropped from 15 to 3), but being a long time customer that happens with Tesla - they plan these inventory purges. When I wanted to buy a Model S in March 2018, there was none, no inventory (I even offered to buy the showroom model but Tesla said no, no model X's either) and earliest order was for June. It being by 4th Model S I reached out to some sales folks I know and they found me one inventory somewhere (I think it might have been cancellation, still in production at the time). However, this wasn't because there was such a strong demand for Model S that Tesla couldn't keep up - it was simply their planned maintenance and retooling window combined with oversees production. I suspect a similar thing is happening with Model 3 right now, maybe they are running dedicated oversees production so they can deliver them by end of quarter, and will switch back to US production in time to deliver by end of quarter locally (it matches with the estimated delivery window of 4-6 weeks for new orders). It's standard production management of Tesla.
whitex
Well-Known Member
[if you are an Apple fanboy, stop reading now as it may challenge your view of reality]There was no Windows Mobile back theniPhone was the first one with a full screen.
Wrong. Windows Mobile was absolutely there, I personally had a Samsung i730 which was neither the first Windows Mobile phone nor was it even new (it was 2 years old when first iPhone was announced). It had all the features iPhone did except itunes or app store, and it had copy/paste function (which iPhone did not have) and the main GUI difference was that instead of pinch-zoom you had to double-tap and then on second tap go up to zoom-in or down to zoom-out (the browser on that 2 year old Windows phone was way more functional than on iPhone btw - it was was not the stock Windows Explorer which came with Windows Mobile but something called Pixel browser which Samsung licensed). Oh, the slide out keyboard was not a requirement, there were other Windows Mobile phones out on the market at the time (I think by HTC) which used a soft keyboard like iPhones. Apple won over Windows Mobile with better marketing, and with itunes+appstore (something which folks inside Microsoft wanted to build before iPhone came out, but Ballmer shut it down because he believed that people want to buy software at best buy, not online). That, and the DOJ antitrust probe was on Microsoft heels which didn't help as they needed to avoid any appearances of trying to dominate yet another market.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
It's greater demand than supply regardless of the reason. Of course Tesla would rather have been able to keep production going and sell more vehicles if they could have.
whitex
Well-Known Member
But your logic, traditional manufacturers have greater demand than supply every night when the dealership closes. I'm sure they would love to sell 24/7 too.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
whitex
Well-Known Member
You say that when Tesla chooses to dedicate a few weeks to produce cars for Europe and Asia, that causes no production of US cars and therefore it means demand outstrips production. Sure it doesm but by the same logic, when dealership close at night, the supply drops to 0 for anyone who wants to buy it before morning. In both situations demands outstrips supply temporarily. Btw, traditional car makes also have a gap in production between model years every year during which it can be hard to find inventory cars - it also doesn't mean they are could sell more than they can produce over the long term.No, that's entirely your "logic"
The difference you fail to notice is that those dealerships have on their lots cumulatively several months worth of production just sitting and waiting for a buyer, while Tesla total inventory cars that can be purchased at any moment world-wide never totals up to more than a few days worth of production and significantly more buyers are waiting in queue (having ordered and paid their deposits) to get their cars produced.
That is the difference between being demand-constrained and production-constrained.
whitex
Well-Known Member
If that were true, Tesla should be raising prices to maximize profit, reduce the demand to equal production capacity and rake in the cash, right? They should not have any excuses for not being profitable.
Yeah . . . no. That's not how supply and demand work. It's generally not based on availability during business hours (but some people will pay through the nose to get Chick Fil A on Sundays). The price of a car at a dealership doesn't go up and stay high overnight when the dealership is closed. Where there is limited production and the product is otherwise in demand - the price goes up (dealers add ADMU, etc).
Tesla can raise prices if people will continue to purchase the product - but, generally, the market finds an equilibrium. If you raise prices enough so that less people want it - you might actually sell less cars and make the same or less money as if you had a tighter margin but sold more cars. It all depends on why you're doing what you're doing . . . making a great product for the masses . . or making a niche car for a few.
whitex
Well-Known Member
By the time the cybertruck hits production, it will likely be time to trade in your Model 3 anyways.
whitex
Well-Known Member
Tesla already has 2 Mars rovers, Model S and Model X, which according to Tesla lawyers age prematurely if exposed to oxygen (which is why Tesla argued they will not cover the yellow screens under warranty - customer's fault for exposing the screen to oxygen). Maybe the truck they will have a stronger case - "Does it look like a Earth vehicle to you? Of course not, so you should have known by driving it in Earth's atmosphere you void your warranty."Mars Rover anyone?
Profitability isn't the priority. It's a means to an end.
whitex
Well-Known Member
I think Elon would disagree. Why else would they be cutting costs everywhere, cutting loaners, car washes, weaseling out of warranty coverage on screens, etc? They could have just replaced all S/X screens under warranty and make customers happy - if money was not the reason, are you saying they intentionally wanted to piss off customers?
whitex
Well-Known Member
Because I think people often swap cars every 4 years, or because knowing that none of Tesla's cars have ever been delivered as originally announced means the truck will likely not be in meaningful production until 2023 or later?
omgwtfbyobbq
Active Member
My guess is that they're cutting costs everywhere because showing profitability helps them grow faster.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Because, as was said, profitability is a means to an end. That means it's necessary.
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