Seems Martins car is finished now

[doug]

They [Tesla Motors] need to be able to handle negative criticism like this as there's going to be a lot more of it. Regardless of how they conduct their business there will always be nasty complaints, some rightous and some not. As a PR head Darryl Siry should know how to handle it, since as VP of Service AND PR it's going to end up on his desk anyhow. In that light D. Siry officially saying he will not post here seems wierd and not very proffesional. Tesla does not need a Paypalsucks aimed at them.

Looks like Siry is looking to hire someone else to take care of it.
From his twitters:

I'm considering hiring a director of communications/media relations. Anybody know a great candidate for Tesla? 10:07 PM May 09, 2008 from twhirl
I also need to hire a social media/blogger type to drive our social media strategyand our website content strategy 10:08 PM May 09, 2008 from twhirl

 

[malcolm]

Excellent news. I hope they find some good candidates.

 

[Chris H.]

Hey, maybe I should apply...! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[Chris H.]

I believe that that's called "outsourcing his problems".

 

[doug]

I suppose everyone's seen this by now, but I post it here anyway.

AutoblogGreen's summary of this thread:
Tesla Saga continues: When is production car #2 not? - AutoblogGreen

Autoblog:
Ex-Tesla CEO irked over which Roadster he's getting - Autoblog

Interesting how the Autoblog article about the same story has a title that might be considered more eye-catching for the general car crowd. :wink:

 

[doug]

Does Tesla issue a document with each car certifying it's production number?

I guess this is that document:

AutoblogGreen

 

[Martin]

I guess this is that document:

Yes, as well as the other two documents on the AutoblogGreen site - two letters that Tesla sent (while I was CEO) to all paid customers.

That certificate and its accompanying letter were all that customers received when they sent Tesla $100,000.

Note that our former VP of Sales wanted a lot more legalese on the certificate and the accompanying letter, but Elon insisted that they be kept simple. His argument was that Tesla would do right by these first customers, so the language should be minimal, without a whole lot of caveats.

 

[Chris H.]

Hi Martin,

one quick question. Who hired DS? Was it you, Elon, or other?

Thanks,

Chris H.

 

[doug]

And now TTAC's brief commentary on the story. Of course, they've always been negative on all things Tesla. And this is no different. The summarizing quote from Robert Fargo's blog?

Suffice it to say, I couldn't give a sh*t.

Tesla Birth Watch 46: Eberhard Cat Fight Obscures Customer Delivery | The Truth About Cars

 

[Martin]

Hi Martin,

one quick question. Who hired DS? Was it you, Elon, or other?

Thanks,

Chris H.

I hired DS.

 

[vfx]

I hired DS.

:frown:

 

[doug]

a bit of irony from the past

Not to drag this out much longer, but I came across this conversation in the comments of a TTAC article from January. I thought it would be relevant to some parts of this thread.

Robert Farago:

So you can’t even tell us when you’re going to tell us when a production-ready Roadster will be ready? Why not?

siry:

No, because we always announce these things first to our customers, then to the press.

 

[chimpanzee]

auto racing perspective

from Champcarfanatics forum Re: News Flash: Con men will screw you over

It's auto racing, folks. Well known haven of narcissists, cheats, liars, and scoundrels. And those are the ones that succeed. The grossly incompetent don't last very long. I'm surprised the Four Bumbling Idiots [ Champcar ownership ] lasted as long as they have. I blame the "four brothers" for this giant debacle, no one else. Not Tony George [ IRL head ], not Robin Miller, not the France family, not cynical internet posters, or any other black helicopter you wish to assign. Just those four owners of the [ Champcar ] series who well and truly screwed it into the ground.

__________________
"Did you ever get the feeling you've been screwed?" Johnny Rotten

[ a bit of trivia: Z'ev Drori was a bidder on CART when it went bankrupt.

"...CART and the Parent entered into confidentiality agreements with, and delivered documents thereunder to, Ze'ev Drori, IRL and Grand American Road Racing Association, LLC. Additionally, IRL representatives personally inspected the physical assets available for sale at CART's headquarters in Indianapolis."

Z'ev Drori is an auto-racing fan, & raced the Long Beach GP celebrity race.

It ended up in the hands of another auto-racing fan Kevin Kalkhoven (Uniphase, a .com'er who "made off like a bandit"..he got sued by their share-holders) as Champcar. He also bought Cosworth.

It should be noted that Martin is an auto fan (who likes to burn rubber on street), so both Tesla & Champcar have their founding roots in auto hobbyists. ]


I was involved (1, 2, 3) with Champcar. Saw all sorts of mis-management (alienation of employees, sponsors, racers, media, fans), & it just blew up. Declared bankruptcy & got "taken over" by its competitor (IRL, who was also losing fans/sponsors/TV like Champcar).


"If you S H I T on the road, you will see flies on your return"
-- S. African proverb

My gut feeling: Tesla is on the path of self-destruction because of bad management ("The fish stinks from the head"). It's not a matter of IF, but WHEN. Same symptoms as Champcar failure: poor media/PR, lawsuits, bad management. Disgruntled commentary on fansite (Champcarfanatics & Tesla Motors Club).

Good read on "United we Stand, Divided we Fall" (split in OWR/Open Wheel Racing in N. America) by Dan Gurney.

 

[Chris H.]

Hey, Pan troglodytes,

Interesting post! I like the quotes... I wonder why Ze'ev was in the "celebrity" race? Is that like Celebrity Jeopardy!?

Anyway, I have to agree with your statement:

"My gut feeling: Tesla is on the path of self-destruction because of bad management ("The fish stinks from the head"). It's not a matter of IF, but WHEN."

And I know that that comment is painful for some of our bloggers here to read, but burying your head in the sand never helped anyone. I believe that 99% of TM employees are great people, fantastically gifted, and enthusiastic about bringing high quality EVs to the masses. It's the 1% at the top that worry me. Fundamentally TM is the same company that Martin was evicted from, but it's veering wildly off course, and it's just a matter of time before it hits a tree (or a Falcon 9...).

Anyway, nice post.

All the best,

Chris H.

 

[Chris H.]

Martin,

Did DS list "Tap Dancing" on his resume? :smile:

 

[Brian H]

First car off the line ....

From Wired, back in March:

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/03/so-far-so-good.html

The first car off the line goes to Martin Eberhard, the company's deposed co-founder. His Roadster has a custom matte gray paint job -- Siry likened it to the aviator gray Audi used on the first generation TT -- with an orange racing stripe. "It's really cool," Siry said.
...
The factory turns out "gliders," or rolling chassis without drivetrains. The cars will be shipped -- Siry said he imagines Eberhard's car will be flown -- to San Francisco for final assembly. Every Roadster will have its battery pack, transmission and motor installed in San Carlos. "The whole process before they're passed to sales takes a couple of weeks," Siry said, and Eberhard will probably get his car in April.

 

[Chris H.]

Brian,

apparently, on this site, we're not supposed to say anything when Tesla doesn't keep it's word...

All the best,

Chris H.

 

[Michael]

veering wildly off course.

Seems like TM is staying on the road fairly well, although some folks might have problems with how they use their turn signals.:smile:

 

[AGR]

Lets hope Martin gets his car sooner than later, and lets hope that he enjoys his car, he surely deserves to drive a Roadster. Especially that the folks at Tesla have had their moments of fame and glory with the first production Roadster.

Hopefully once Martin gets his car he will give his comments and opinion on using the car.

It would be ironic if Martin made his car available to TTAC!!

 

[doug]

Some good news from Martin. He has installed his charging unit in his garage in anticipation of the delivery of his Roadster.

I think it is possible that I will get my car in the next week or so, if things go well. When I do get my car, I will write about it on this blog.

Tesla Founders Blog