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Tesla created a brand that is unmatched and stands on its own from the car market. I think it doesn't matter if Chevy, or BMW makes an electric car, it doesn't

by rdtsc 10y ago

Tesla created a brand that is unmatched and stands on its own from the car market. I think it doesn't matter if Chevy, or BMW makes an electric car, it doesn't matter if has better distance or faster chargers, it is not a Tesla so people who want a Tesla won't want that car. Or to put it another way people who want and buy Teslas are not necessarily the same people who want, or like other cars. In a perverse way, one of the things that propels the brand forward is the difficulty to get one. Once something is forbidden, it automatically become desired. In a funny way I'd like to imagine, we'd discover one day Musk is paying all these state dealership lobbies ot lobby against direct Tesla sales.

twblalock 10y ago
What a strange combination of naive fanboyism and conspiratorial thinking.
- lawnchair_larry 10y ago
  Nah, he's making a (probably correct) observation of the market. Tesla is like the Apple of cars, and Elon is the Steve of the auto industry. It doesn't have to make sense in order for it to be true.
  - tempestn 10y ago
    Exclusivity does indeed impact people's decisions, but it's far from the only driver. If a major brand made a new electric car that was demonstrably better than a comparably priced Tesla, it would sell well, and word would quickly spread. There is also significant appeal in having the "best". Musk organizing lobbyists against his own company makes no sense. If they wanted to make the cars scarce they could simply produce fewer of them. Instead they're scaling production as quickly as possible, because obviously selling more cars results in more revenue.
  - snovv_crash 10y ago
    And Google did the same thing with GMail, being exclusive at the beginning.
  - walshemj 10y ago
    trouble is with that analogy is there are plenty of other car makers that fit the luxury end of the market Tesla is going to have a hard time replacing, RR Bentley, BMW Mercedes and BMW. Let alone the really guci brands like say Bristol where if you are not the right sort of chap you can't buy
- rdtsc 10y ago
  Please, "conspiratorial thinking" ... it was obviously a joke. But the observation that an a restriction or prohibition on something making it more desirable wasn't. As for fanboy-ism, I just described how I saw the market. I am certainly not camping under Musks' window. But many consider him the equivalent of some technological messiah, whether you like, or I like or anyone else. A sibling comment compared it to Apple, that's a good analogy. It doesn't matter how fast or cool Dell or Microsoft is, those people want an Apple and will not buy anything else. I think Tesla is the same way. So so besides the one-line zinger, how would you describe the fact that people who can't afford this product and go out of their way to just to drive it.
  - sndean 10y ago
    > A sibling comment compared it to Apple, that's a good analogy. It doesn't matter how fast or cool Dell or Microsoft is, those people want an Apple and will not buy anything else. I think Tesla is the same way. Just as a worthless set of anecdotes, the Apple and Tesla fanboy groups have a pretty large overlap, based on people that I know who own a Model S.
    - rdtsc 10y ago
      > Just as a worthless set of anecdotes So what are you arguing against? That these fanboys don't exist? I think we are talking about the same thing... I was saying there are irrational fanboys that will not buy anything else, and then you chime in "Oh, that's a worthless observation! There are lots of irrational fanboys"?
      - sndean 10y ago
        > I think we are talking about the same thing... Yeah, I think we are. Rereading my comment, it was poorly worded... My point was that the irrational fanboy-ism that's sometimes associated with Apple and Tesla is, in my experience, exhibited by the same people. So the Apple analogy is a good one, possibly because they're the same group of people (?).
forgetsusername 10y ago
>it is not a Tesla so people who want a Tesla won't want that car. That's a much smaller market than those in SV think. Most people around me haven't even heard of the company. I'm sure that's unfathomable to some of the people on these boards. The money is in mass-market, and Tesla knows it.
noer 10y ago
>I think it doesn't matter if Chevy, or BMW makes an electric car I think you're wrong here. Tesla makes electric cars that actually look like fossil fueled versions of the cars that they make. The Roadster looks like a regular sports car, the Model S looks like a full size luxury car. Part of my problem with the BMW i series is that the two cars look like spaceships or cars from a 1960s illustration of "the future". They call a ton of attention to themselves and I think they look ridiculous. I think the real competition is making an electric car that looks/feels like the fossil fueled cars that many people in the world are used to driving. Right now, it seems like Tesla is winning that battle, though the Chevy volt is definitely on the right track.
- rdtsc 10y ago
  The observation was that Tesla made a brand in its own right. There is a car there, but they are selling Musk himself, the ideas behind Tesla, his other companies. Even if Tesla was technically inferior, and looks like a gas guzzling car, it would still sell better than competitors. > though the Chevy volt is definitely on the right track. Technically they are. If you look at features only they did the right thing. But Volts are not flying off the shelves so to speak. Unfortunately I think association with the Chevy brand is probably a part of the reason. I think they should have spun off a subsidiary company with a new name, and marketed the company itself just as much as the car. This is a bit like how car companies have luxury brands and regular, so it would be electric cars vs regular, basically a 3rd thing.

by rdtsc 10y ago

twblalock 10y ago

What a strange combination of naive fanboyism and conspiratorial thinking.

lawnchair_larry 10y ago
Nah, he's making a (probably correct) observation of the market. Tesla is like the Apple of cars, and Elon is the Steve of the auto industry. It doesn't have to make sense in order for it to be true.
- tempestn 10y ago
  Exclusivity does indeed impact people's decisions, but it's far from the only driver. If a major brand made a new electric car that was demonstrably better than a comparably priced Tesla, it would sell well, and word would quickly spread. There is also significant appeal in having the "best". Musk organizing lobbyists against his own company makes no sense. If they wanted to make the cars scarce they could simply produce fewer of them. Instead they're scaling production as quickly as possible, because obviously selling more cars results in more revenue.
- snovv_crash 10y ago
  And Google did the same thing with GMail, being exclusive at the beginning.
- walshemj 10y ago
  trouble is with that analogy is there are plenty of other car makers that fit the luxury end of the market Tesla is going to have a hard time replacing, RR Bentley, BMW Mercedes and BMW. Let alone the really guci brands like say Bristol where if you are not the right sort of chap you can't buy
rdtsc 10y ago
Please, "conspiratorial thinking" ... it was obviously a joke. But the observation that an a restriction or prohibition on something making it more desirable wasn't. As for fanboy-ism, I just described how I saw the market. I am certainly not camping under Musks' window. But many consider him the equivalent of some technological messiah, whether you like, or I like or anyone else. A sibling comment compared it to Apple, that's a good analogy. It doesn't matter how fast or cool Dell or Microsoft is, those people want an Apple and will not buy anything else. I think Tesla is the same way. So so besides the one-line zinger, how would you describe the fact that people who can't afford this product and go out of their way to just to drive it.
- sndean 10y ago
  > A sibling comment compared it to Apple, that's a good analogy. It doesn't matter how fast or cool Dell or Microsoft is, those people want an Apple and will not buy anything else. I think Tesla is the same way. Just as a worthless set of anecdotes, the Apple and Tesla fanboy groups have a pretty large overlap, based on people that I know who own a Model S.
  - rdtsc 10y ago
    > Just as a worthless set of anecdotes So what are you arguing against? That these fanboys don't exist? I think we are talking about the same thing... I was saying there are irrational fanboys that will not buy anything else, and then you chime in "Oh, that's a worthless observation! There are lots of irrational fanboys"?
    - sndean 10y ago
      > I think we are talking about the same thing... Yeah, I think we are. Rereading my comment, it was poorly worded... My point was that the irrational fanboy-ism that's sometimes associated with Apple and Tesla is, in my experience, exhibited by the same people. So the Apple analogy is a good one, possibly because they're the same group of people (?).

forgetsusername 10y ago

>it is not a Tesla so people who want a Tesla won't want that car. That's a much smaller market than those in SV think. Most people around me haven't even heard of the company. I'm sure that's unfathomable to some of the people on these boards. The money is in mass-market, and Tesla knows it.

noer 10y ago

>I think it doesn't matter if Chevy, or BMW makes an electric car I think you're wrong here. Tesla makes electric cars that actually look like fossil fueled versions of the cars that they make. The Roadster looks like a regular sports car, the Model S looks like a full size luxury car. Part of my problem with the BMW i series is that the two cars look like spaceships or cars from a 1960s illustration of "the future". They call a ton of attention to themselves and I think they look ridiculous. I think the real competition is making an electric car that looks/feels like the fossil fueled cars that many people in the world are used to driving. Right now, it seems like Tesla is winning that battle, though the Chevy volt is definitely on the right track.

rdtsc 10y ago
The observation was that Tesla made a brand in its own right. There is a car there, but they are selling Musk himself, the ideas behind Tesla, his other companies. Even if Tesla was technically inferior, and looks like a gas guzzling car, it would still sell better than competitors. > though the Chevy volt is definitely on the right track. Technically they are. If you look at features only they did the right thing. But Volts are not flying off the shelves so to speak. Unfortunately I think association with the Chevy brand is probably a part of the reason. I think they should have spun off a subsidiary company with a new name, and marketed the company itself just as much as the car. This is a bit like how car companies have luxury brands and regular, so it would be electric cars vs regular, basically a 3rd thing.