That's one way to look at it. Another way is that they've been serving the upper-class automobile market for decades and have been recently introducing cheaper

That's one way to look at it. Another way is that they've been serving the upper-class automobile market for decades and have been recently introducing cheaper models. A C-class with options will run you $50k now, and $65k on an E which has long been their bread and butter car. I'm less familiar w/ the BMW family but I'm sure it's similar. So I think Tesla is absolutely competing with Mercedes and BMW, though certainly their most high-end models are competing with world class cars of any nameplate.