Pretty sure they will make money this quarter but even if they don't, if they can't afford to make repair parts...they need to get into a different line of work. This goes with the industry.
There's a long list of "goes with the industry" stuff Tesla does not do.... and they simply did not have the cash on hand to do a massive parts and service buildout ahead of the Model 3 mass production launch AND also build enough production cars.
Most new parts produced are going on to new cars since they're selling them faster than they can build them.
On top of that there's a logistics issue.... Tesla doesn't have space to
store a ton of spare parts presently. Fremont was already so full they had to use tents to build cars....and they're planning to maybe build the Y there too.
So they're working on fixing THAT with the big parts distribution center I mentioned is being finished up now between the gigafactory and fremont.
And local tesla service centers never stored parts traditionally- so they don't have space to do so now (this is one of the "things they're working to improve" but you can't just magically make 100 buildings physically much larger)
All of the above adds up to... parts availability has sucked- and there wasn't a lot Tesla could've done about it without a bunch more cash they had more important things to spend on at the time.
Does that mean Tesla should probably have done a cap raise a year or more ago to be able to get ahead of this? Probably yeah. They didn't though, and not even Elon has a time machine.
Not realizing "the next huge bottleneck" is a recurring theme for Tesla.
"Hey let's build 4 times more cars than ever...."
Huh...apparently we should've planned to be able to TRANSPORT AND DELIVER 4x more cars... WHO KNEW???
"Hey let's put 4 times more cars on the road...."
Huh...apparently we should've planned to be able to REPAIR 4x more cars...WHO KNEW???
Here's a fun next one- they're already
out of batteries with which to built significantly more cars than they are today in the US... hence why powerwall installs have ground to a halt and Model 3 production is battery constrained... But they're still planning to launch Model Y next year, expecting to sell even more of those than they do Model 3.... HUH WE NEEDED 50% MORE BATTERIES? WHO KNEW???
Anyway- this is awful for folks who then need their Tesla repaired after an accident, but that's a minority of customers- and it's better than the alternative (sans cap raise 1-2 years ago)- which was Tesla had plenty of spare parts but ran out of cash to run the company because they didn't build and sell enough new cars.
Tesla has been working to improve this- slowly and laughably badly as is normal for logistic and organizational stuff with Tesla.... but as funny as Garlands phone call might seem cutting parts delays in half for a company as over-extended and badly organized on parts as Tesla is actually progress.
The fact they're about to open a massive parts depot, and finally opening more service centers, also shows some actual spending is finally getting someplace.
Would Lexus treat you this way? Nope. But they also don't sell any cars I consider worth buying anymore (and I write that as someone who has owned, and loved, a number of em).
Tesla has been lucky enough to have demand be this high, and remain this high, with 0 advertising,
despite the fact they're horrible at parts, service, sales, and delivery.
I think they're hoping these issues will be worked through before the Y (and eventual pickup) hit the market and floodgates REALLY bust open.
