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Wouldn't it make more sense for non-Tesla owners to get priority in the queue? Seems like a better way to get more people driving EVs.

by bmj 11y ago

keehun 11y ago
I think they're trying to be a luxury brand (or even with Model 3 be that "fancy" mainstream brand). Luxury brands (like Lamborghini) often reward current owners for loyalty. For example, some limited models are only available to those that already own several other cars by them. It also may push some more Model S and X's out the door?
bertil 11y ago
They might want to favour the second-hand market. Makes car appear cheaper.
nodesocket 11y ago
No, you want to reward your loyal and die hard customers. They will continue to pay dividends by recommending Tesla to their friends and family and buying more products.
- cuckcuckspruce 11y ago
  Which doesn't do you any good on a marketing front because the people that want your product can't get it, so it means practically no new sales for you. Most people don't buy cars on a whim - they buy them when they need them - and if your car is not available in the window where they need one they'll go somewhere else. Very few but the die-hard will buy a $900 beater to tide them over until their Model 3 reservation comes in.
  - thedufer 11y ago
    The Model S costs $75k. The kind of people who think that's a reasonable price for a car absolutely can and will buy on a whim. They can also tide themselves over with a BMW or the like, not a beater. Normal car-buying doesn't really apply when you're looking at a six-figure pricetag.
    - cuckcuckspruce 11y ago
      Yes, your loyal customers who already have your $75,000 car can buy one on a whim, but the point of a $35,000 car that can net $7,500 in federal tax breaks and even more in state tax breaks is that it appeals to people who are in the market segment for, say, a Nissan Leaf or a Toyota Prius. Most people that buy those cars, while they can afford to spend a little more than your average car buyer, cannot and do not buy cars on a whim. They buy them when their previous car is giving up the ghost and they need a new one. Paying $1,000 to be on a waiting list for two years behind those that can buy a car on a whim is not appealing to that crowd and does nothing to engage their demand, especially since they can go down to their local Nissan/Toyota dealership and drive off the lot with a Leaf/Prius today. So expecting the enthusiasm of your Model S customers to spur demand for your Model 3 works if and only if the people the Model 3 is targeted at can get one, and if the Model S customers are ahead in the queue when the delivery target is over two years out then their evangelism won't mean anything if the target audience needs to replace their car in the short term (< 2 years) and medium term (> 2 years and < 5) because you're too busy prioritizing your customers for a car that is below their segment.
      - true_religion 11y ago
        > the point of a $35,000 car that can net $7,500 in federal tax breaks and even more in state tax breaks is that it appeals to people who are in the market segment for, say, a Nissan Leaf or a Toyota Prius. The car is coming out 2017 in California, and will be rolled out for the next 2-3 years afterwards nationwide. For people who live in say Virginia, that means you might wait till 2019 to get the car. I'm not sure what audience of people exists that (a) can only afford a Leaf/Prius and (b) are willing to wait perhaps 3-4 years to have a car. If this audience exists, Tesla absolutely should give them affordances because they are die-hard, potential evangelists who have never owned a Tesla before. However, I wouldn't count on their numbers being that big.
      - mikeash 11y ago
        I think people are assuming that this prioritization is going to cause way more delays than it really will. There are about 120,000 Tesla owners out there right now. Maybe 130,000 by now, my facts are slightly out of date. How many of those will be reserving a Model 3? These are people who 1) already have a car 2) which is still pretty new, since most Teslas on the road have been sold in the past couple of years 3) are now used to driving a large, powerful, luxurious car. Why would they be buying a Model 3? It'll either be because some other car needs replacing at the right time, or they need an extra car, or they don't like the Model S and want something smaller. I don't think that's going to make up a huge proportion of the current owners. I'd guess a few thousand at most will be reserving a Model 3. That's going to push other people's deliveries back by, what, a month or two? When the wait time is already a year and a half for the first person in line, I don't see this making much of a difference.
  - gohrt 11y ago
    Someone's getting the car regardless -- either Seamus McVC's teenage child, or Hilary MiddleClass. The cars will sell out.
njharman 11y ago
What would be the reaction to? "Hey loyal customers, yeah fuck you, you have to get in line behind everyone else." Going out of business cause you treat customers like crap won't get more people driving EVs either.
mikeash 11y ago
That would be a pretty dick move. "You gave us a ton of money buying a ridiculously expensive car, and as your reward you have to wait longer than people who we've never even seen before." I could see just not giving priority. As it is, they're rewarding customer loyalty, which is a pretty common thing to do.
- arprocter 11y ago
  But the model 3 is supposedly the 'affordable' one, so prioritizing rich folks who already own one of the pricey models seems a little backwards.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Well, either rich people want "the affordable one" or they don't. If they do, why not reward their loyalty? If they don't, then it doesn't affect anything. In any case, I don't think it'll be a major factor. All current owners already have a car, after all. How many need another one? Out of ~120,000 current owners, how many head-of-line orders will that translate into? I'd think it would just be a couple thousand, which won't make a particularly big difference in the timeline for others.
  - joezydeco 11y ago
    If it primes the money pipeline full of customers that will 100% buy one sight-unseen, it's a no-brainer to take their money first. The ones waiting for the 'affordable' model can still get one, just a little later on.
gohrt 11y ago
Tesla owners are either buying the new car for another driver, or to replace an old Tesla going to resale. Vanishingly few people are buyign M3's to store in their garage.

Wouldn't it make more sense for non-Tesla owners to get priority in the queue? Seems like a better way to get more people driving EVs.

by bmj 11y ago

Wouldn't it make more sense for non-Tesla owners to get priority in the queue? Seems like a better way to get more people driving EVs.

keehun 11y ago

I think they're trying to be a luxury brand (or even with Model 3 be that "fancy" mainstream brand). Luxury brands (like Lamborghini) often reward current owners for loyalty. For example, some limited models are only available to those that already own several other cars by them. It also may push some more Model S and X's out the door?

bertil 11y ago

They might want to favour the second-hand market. Makes car appear cheaper.

nodesocket 11y ago

No, you want to reward your loyal and die hard customers. They will continue to pay dividends by recommending Tesla to their friends and family and buying more products.

cuckcuckspruce 11y ago
Which doesn't do you any good on a marketing front because the people that want your product can't get it, so it means practically no new sales for you. Most people don't buy cars on a whim - they buy them when they need them - and if your car is not available in the window where they need one they'll go somewhere else. Very few but the die-hard will buy a $900 beater to tide them over until their Model 3 reservation comes in.
- thedufer 11y ago
  The Model S costs $75k. The kind of people who think that's a reasonable price for a car absolutely can and will buy on a whim. They can also tide themselves over with a BMW or the like, not a beater. Normal car-buying doesn't really apply when you're looking at a six-figure pricetag.
  - cuckcuckspruce 11y ago
    Yes, your loyal customers who already have your $75,000 car can buy one on a whim, but the point of a $35,000 car that can net $7,500 in federal tax breaks and even more in state tax breaks is that it appeals to people who are in the market segment for, say, a Nissan Leaf or a Toyota Prius. Most people that buy those cars, while they can afford to spend a little more than your average car buyer, cannot and do not buy cars on a whim. They buy them when their previous car is giving up the ghost and they need a new one. Paying $1,000 to be on a waiting list for two years behind those that can buy a car on a whim is not appealing to that crowd and does nothing to engage their demand, especially since they can go down to their local Nissan/Toyota dealership and drive off the lot with a Leaf/Prius today. So expecting the enthusiasm of your Model S customers to spur demand for your Model 3 works if and only if the people the Model 3 is targeted at can get one, and if the Model S customers are ahead in the queue when the delivery target is over two years out then their evangelism won't mean anything if the target audience needs to replace their car in the short term (< 2 years) and medium term (> 2 years and < 5) because you're too busy prioritizing your customers for a car that is below their segment.
    - true_religion 11y ago
      > the point of a $35,000 car that can net $7,500 in federal tax breaks and even more in state tax breaks is that it appeals to people who are in the market segment for, say, a Nissan Leaf or a Toyota Prius. The car is coming out 2017 in California, and will be rolled out for the next 2-3 years afterwards nationwide. For people who live in say Virginia, that means you might wait till 2019 to get the car. I'm not sure what audience of people exists that (a) can only afford a Leaf/Prius and (b) are willing to wait perhaps 3-4 years to have a car. If this audience exists, Tesla absolutely should give them affordances because they are die-hard, potential evangelists who have never owned a Tesla before. However, I wouldn't count on their numbers being that big.
    - mikeash 11y ago
      I think people are assuming that this prioritization is going to cause way more delays than it really will. There are about 120,000 Tesla owners out there right now. Maybe 130,000 by now, my facts are slightly out of date. How many of those will be reserving a Model 3? These are people who 1) already have a car 2) which is still pretty new, since most Teslas on the road have been sold in the past couple of years 3) are now used to driving a large, powerful, luxurious car. Why would they be buying a Model 3? It'll either be because some other car needs replacing at the right time, or they need an extra car, or they don't like the Model S and want something smaller. I don't think that's going to make up a huge proportion of the current owners. I'd guess a few thousand at most will be reserving a Model 3. That's going to push other people's deliveries back by, what, a month or two? When the wait time is already a year and a half for the first person in line, I don't see this making much of a difference.
- gohrt 11y ago
  Someone's getting the car regardless -- either Seamus McVC's teenage child, or Hilary MiddleClass. The cars will sell out.

njharman 11y ago

What would be the reaction to? "Hey loyal customers, yeah fuck you, you have to get in line behind everyone else." Going out of business cause you treat customers like crap won't get more people driving EVs either.

mikeash 11y ago

That would be a pretty dick move. "You gave us a ton of money buying a ridiculously expensive car, and as your reward you have to wait longer than people who we've never even seen before." I could see just not giving priority. As it is, they're rewarding customer loyalty, which is a pretty common thing to do.

arprocter 11y ago
But the model 3 is supposedly the 'affordable' one, so prioritizing rich folks who already own one of the pricey models seems a little backwards.
- mikeash 11y ago
  Well, either rich people want "the affordable one" or they don't. If they do, why not reward their loyalty? If they don't, then it doesn't affect anything. In any case, I don't think it'll be a major factor. All current owners already have a car, after all. How many need another one? Out of ~120,000 current owners, how many head-of-line orders will that translate into? I'd think it would just be a couple thousand, which won't make a particularly big difference in the timeline for others.
- joezydeco 11y ago
  If it primes the money pipeline full of customers that will 100% buy one sight-unseen, it's a no-brainer to take their money first. The ones waiting for the 'affordable' model can still get one, just a little later on.

gohrt 11y ago

Tesla owners are either buying the new car for another driver, or to replace an old Tesla going to resale. Vanishingly few people are buyign M3's to store in their garage.