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I would actually think that Tesla would be less affected by this pandemic. Why? Because their target market, are people that would be last to be laid off. Not

I would actually think that Tesla would be less affected by this pandemic. Why? Because their target market, are people that would be last to be laid off. Not entirely of course, but they are the programmers that can work from home, or the senior managers that can jump between companies if they’re laid off. Of course, the lockdown is affecting everyone, but Tesla has always targeted the affluent and entrepreneurial, as their primary customers. And let’s be realistic here, these people that can afford an $80k Tesla, are not concerned about the price of gasoline.

nikanj 7y ago
For a lot of people with hour+ commutes, it makes sense to get a model 3, especially if they have the luxury of charging it for free. Gas really is quite expensive if you have to drive long distances daily. Most of these people no longer have the long commutes.
wastedhours 7y ago
Where are you driving to right now though? Would expect them to recover better than most other companies, but would be interested to see how they're actually weathering this.
tomatocracy 7y ago
People on average (including the demographic you are talking about) do defer making big capital purchases in this type of environment - it’s the “conserve money in case the worst happens” attitude. Of course there is a demographic who are wealthy enough that a Tesla wouldn’t be a big capital purchase for them. But I don’t think that demographic alone is enough to sustain them as a business. In addition, with governments likely to be looking for cost savings in the coming years, subsidies for electric cars aimed at or claimed by “rich people” (thinking about some European markets here) look like an easy target politically speaking. What might offset that for Tesla is potential for them to grow in China but that’s a difficult one to predict.
- ghaff 7y ago
  In addition, while I suppose you could make a Tesla purchase and take delivery mostly virtually, people are still deferring significant purchases for reasons that go beyond money. It's just one more unnecessary thing to deal with right now. Furthermore, for many purchases, you can't totally deal with things over the phone or over the computer. I should get a new refrigerator one of these days but it's just not something I'm going to do until this is all over.

nikanj 7y ago

For a lot of people with hour+ commutes, it makes sense to get a model 3, especially if they have the luxury of charging it for free. Gas really is quite expensive if you have to drive long distances daily. Most of these people no longer have the long commutes.

wastedhours 7y ago

Where are you driving to right now though? Would expect them to recover better than most other companies, but would be interested to see how they're actually weathering this.

tomatocracy 7y ago

People on average (including the demographic you are talking about) do defer making big capital purchases in this type of environment - it’s the “conserve money in case the worst happens” attitude. Of course there is a demographic who are wealthy enough that a Tesla wouldn’t be a big capital purchase for them. But I don’t think that demographic alone is enough to sustain them as a business. In addition, with governments likely to be looking for cost savings in the coming years, subsidies for electric cars aimed at or claimed by “rich people” (thinking about some European markets here) look like an easy target politically speaking. What might offset that for Tesla is potential for them to grow in China but that’s a difficult one to predict.

ghaff 7y ago
In addition, while I suppose you could make a Tesla purchase and take delivery mostly virtually, people are still deferring significant purchases for reasons that go beyond money. It's just one more unnecessary thing to deal with right now. Furthermore, for many purchases, you can't totally deal with things over the phone or over the computer. I should get a new refrigerator one of these days but it's just not something I'm going to do until this is all over.