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Q4 was the last month for $7500 incentive in the US, so they opened up to new markets. Thousands of cars were on ships headed to other countries which aren't co
by gibolt 7y ago
Q4 was the last month for $7500 incentive in the US, so they opened up to new markets. Thousands of cars were on ships headed to other countries which aren't counted as 'delivered' until over a month later.
Q1 is also consistently the weakest quarter for the overall car market.
- Robotbeat 7y agoIt's remarkable that Tesla is making delivery records even though they've lost over $5000 of incentive per car in the US. For a lot of vehicles, that's the entire profit margin. And they're doing that on top of historically low gas prices and without a mid-level SUV or truck. Tesla is proving more robust than the common narrative.
- gibolt 7y agoThe worst part for Tesla is that the US federal tax rebate can still be used by the competition that is starting to arrive. Tesla fought such an uphill battle to make electric vehicles mainstream, but now can be undercut by $7500 by the incumbents entering late in the game. This is a double-edged sword, since competition is good. Competitors also are unable to make the same profit margin as Tesla for now.
- Robotbeat 7y agoRight, they're fighting that competition right now (eTron has been available for months in the US and its sales are declining) but are still crushing it. In fact, it's disappointing that few have really risen to Tesla's challenge. Taycan does (I'm impressed by the higher voltage of the battery), but at much greater cost and still doesn't quite meet the highest Tesla trim performance. The EV credit system is unfair for domestic EV makers who have taken EVs seriously (GM and Tesla) and advantages foreign EV makers like VW group companies (who count as separate companies according to the tax credit but can use the same platform for their EVs).