Artful Dodger
"Neko no me"
Nominated for "Moderators' Choice: Posts of Particular Merit."
Thank-you.
Cheers, Bruv!
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Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable
- Thread starter AudubonB
- Start date
Nominated for "Moderators' Choice: Posts of Particular Merit."
Thank-you.
Cheers, Bruv!
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
That's right, only with product innovation will Tesla continue to lead. But if you have been listening to Elon he has let us know the products are not the cars, they are the factories. Most people still don't get this. The factories are becoming ever more efficient and that means no one can match the prices Tesla is able to offer. This will guarantee that they can sell every car they can make because they will have more pricing power as far as the eye can see. A car is second only a house as the largest purchase most people make and people want value.
The factories are being optimized by people who love to figure out new, better ways to do things and work under a management that lets them try new things. Sure, GM could become desperate and tell their engineers to try to develop new ways of doing things that will save them money but they don't have a culture of real innovation. It's a place where bureaucracy has ruled for decades. Turning that around takes a herculean effort and many years. It requires new blood and if you are one of the most innovative graduates in your engineering school, who do you want to work for, the mythical Elon Musk or someone like Mary Barra who speaks highly of the corrupt UAW and pays lower wages and no stock options and might go out of business any day? So, the question is, how does an organization like that not only transform themself into something as lean and efficient as Teslaa but also, how does a troubled organization attract top management talent to make it happen? Because it's obvious Mary Barra doesn't have what it takes to make the big changes necessary. I don't see anyone that does.
The theory that other, hungrier, companies could catch up to Tesla in any reasonable timeframe because Tesla was basking in their successes doesn't hold water. Tesla is attracting the most talented people who have a dream of helping to change the world for the better and none of them have been fooled that the job is not long and hard or that it will be done when EV's reach 50% of sales. The job at hand and the threat of climate catastrophe will continue to drive them to make their products faster and for less money so they can spread to increasingly poorer countries. These are not the kind of people that bask in early success and say "Mission Accomplished". The culture is to invent and innovate better ways of doing things and the processes they develop will live on. It's a virtuous cycle. No one can catch up. Tesla has smartly positioned themselves at the leading edge of the age of technology and they know they are in control of their destiny, not VW, not Toyota, not Ford, not GM, they are irrelevant. Tesla's business model doesn't rely on cheap labor, it relies on innovation.
And to be clear, the big advantage is in making the products for less money. That is where Tesla focuses most of their innovation. Anyone can design a very nice car but how much does it cost them to build a million of them? Can they build a million of them at a price they can sell them for? If there's no profit in it, they don't want to do it.
Tesla doesn't have any real competition now and they don't need any in the future to keep them innovating. Their entire corporate culture demands that and corporate culture is a very powerful thing amongst those who are embedded in that world. Ford had great innovation in the 1910's and 1920's and then it slowly died out. They eventually had real competition but they didn't have a mission beyond making money and it took decades for the competition to become real. Tesla's secret weapon is that they have a mission more important than money. If you want to argue that their lead might dissipate in 20 years, in 2041, fine, I can't project that far ahead anyway and it's not really relevant now from an investment standpoint. But I think it's extremely short-sighted to think they need competition in the 2020's or even in the 2030's in order to effectively carry out their mission. Sure, bring on the competition, it's not even relevant and I don't think it will be relevant for a very long time. Because no one has explained how the laggards are going to suddenly become high efficiency manufacturing power-houses without the best talent, without a clear mission beyond saving the corporation from bankruptcy and beyond getting a promotion. The best they can do is try to emulate what Tesla was already working on 3-6 years previously. The only way they could become relevant competition is to match Tesla's corporate efficiency and their manufacturing efficiency. And no one has even presented a viable plan for achieving that. Tesla's competition will slowly die out with ICE vehicles.
Remember, it's all about the batteries and the 'competition' has battery plans that are woefully inadequate. Tesla's partners in carrying out the mission are other battery manufacturers and mining interests that supply raw materials for batteries and motors, not other auto manufacturers who want to continue producing ICE cars to keep shareholders happy and justify their corporate overhead. Success might eventually breed laziness but we are only into the second inning and there is still 6 1/2 innings to go. Team Tesla wants to humiliate all the other teams. And I'm only talking vehicles here. Considering that we are only in the first inning of the transition from the industrial age to the age of technology, my, oh, my!
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All the folks with mountains bought them, to summon the servants from the foot of the mountain.
Volvo has talked about such a system (not AI-based) since 2005 - no idea if it was ever implemented?
Key to Safety at Start up
Volvo Cars’ most recent contribution to road safety is an experimental car equipped with a combined breathalyser lock and seat belt lock as well as a special ignition key that regulates the car’s speed. In order to start the engine, the driver must first blow into the built-in breathalyser lock...
www.media.volvocars.com
I still don't understand why a good number of this boards vocal scribes keep suggesting that Elon is sitting in front of his laptop actively selling shares or exercising options, or anything of that matter?
I'm 100% sure that the smartest guy in the world right now, and also one of the wealthiest, has an investment bank(s) tasked with executing his plan. I'm sure he was a part of defining the plan, but executing? Never.
He might call (or probably have his assistant call) his personal banker to - say - delay trades for a day so that he can meme-tweet (yes, I think he's that childish - which I love!). But I do not under any circumstances believe he's actually doing any selling / exercising.
He's busy saving the world.... not time for such earthly distractions.
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Artful Dodger
"Neko no me"
Let's Go! 
Nasdaq 100 Dec 21 (NQ=F)
CME Delayed Price. Currency in USD
16,328.00 +177.50 (+1.10%)
As of 03:34AM EST. Market open.
@SpaceCash have you been on holiday lately?
Tesla Fan Driving Minivan Busted For DUI After Roll-Over Accident
A motorist who has a Tesla logo tattooed on his face was driving a 1992 minivan when he was arrested Friday on a felony DUI count and multiple vehicular charges, according to Illinois police. Jordanwww.thesmokinggun.com
Alright which one of you is this?
FTFY
Then there was this from 2008:
GM says automakers deserve $50 billion in federal loans: report
Automakers deserve as much as $50 billion in government-backed loans so that they can build more fuel-efficient cars, according to a top General Motors executive, the New York Times reported.
www.reuters.com
TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
Good to see I guess. I like to hear about cell production and vertical integration with at least a few very near term timelines.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/C47BWKEMOZOPXCC4M62PX7FBZA.jpg)
www.reuters.com
VW expects battery, raw material drive to cost up to $34 bln
Volkswagen's planned European battery cell plants and securing vital raw materials will cost as much as 30 billion euros ($34 billion), board member Thomas Schmall said, putting a price tag on the expansion for the first time.
www.reuters.com
Yep, Reuters reported it too:
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/ZPTHIASCTNPOLE5GL2EXRRDT2E.jpg)
Tesla says Chinese think tank report on its Shanghai production is 'inaccurate'
Tesla said on Wednesday that a report by Chinese think tank EV100 that quoted the U.S. automaker's vice president as saying that its Shanghai factory was on track to meet its goal of making 500,000 vehicles this year was "inaccurate".
www.reuters.com
MTL_HABS1909
Active Member
Elon selling to friends in dark pools?
ZachF
Active Member
ZachF
Active Member
The innovator’s dilemma is real, and creative destruction is ruthlessly unforgiving.
The capital requirements for the technology transition will rise just as profits from obsolete ICE turn negative. Much of these companies will probably eventually BK and ask their host governments for bailouts.
I recently talked to a Stellantis change consultant who was still downplaying EV's and peddling hydrogen cars as the future.
What is a Stellantis change consultant?
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