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I welcome competition but I am very skeptical of this. The article feels like is using some shady stats. All cars are not the same. The price point absolutely m

I welcome competition but I am very skeptical of this. The article feels like is using some shady stats. All cars are not the same. The price point absolutely matters, even more so in EVs. The correct way to compare them is in the appropriate market segment. Nissan Leaf sells in droves in the US but it doesn’t mean they lose a threat to Tesla. I want to see the breakdown by segment and if people are actually choosing a comparable car over a model 3 or S or X. Also the biggest advantage Tesla has is their supercharger network. I haven’t seen it replicated anywhere and it takes years to do so. I would give the edge to Tesla and only buy their cars as long as they have that insurmountable advantage.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
I agree. This article is basically rage bait for the fanboys. Of course a bunch of EV compacts entering the market is gonna detract market share from the big EVs because all the "I'll only buy a compact" people just entered the market and cast their lot in with the compact. Tesla might be losing market share but EVs are very much a "rising tide lifts all ships" situation as they slowly replace more and more ICE vehicles so that's not necessarily indicative of anything. This is very far from a zero sum game.
- bhupy 6y ago
  Tesla's current valuation is predicated on it essentially becoming the new Toyota (it's worth more than $TM right now). There's little doubt that Tesla can be a sustainable, successful electric automobile business in the "big EV" segment, but a big question is whether it will replace the Toyota Corollas, Camry's, and Priuses of yesteryear. If the answer to that question is "No", then maybe the market cap of TSLA is inflated.
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    I know that what you're portraying is every online fanboy's wet dream but it's really unlikely to happen. Tesla's thing is bleeding edge tech. Bleeding edge tech is not what you fill a car full of if you want to sell cars to hordes of people who just want A to B transpiration and are willing to pay a hefty premium for consistency.
lkramer 6y ago
Well, Tesla is valued along side these companies, not as a high end luxury manufacture. And one narrative we have been fed is that Teslas are lightyears ahead of the competition. This article seems to say that is not the case, at least in Europe.
sharpneli 6y ago
Finland has roughly similar GDP per capita as Germany so I would hazard reasons there are similar to here. What you point out is correct if Tesla is a luxury brand. But there is talks how Tesla will become bigger than Toyota or whatnot, which is something that a purely luxury brand cannot do. The thing is that a normal person simply cannot afford a Tesla. But they can afford an EV third of the price. In Finland average gross salary is ~3500€/month which is maybe 2500€/month net. That comes as 30000€ per year net of actual usable money. Renault Zoe costs around 30000€ here brand new. So someone with average salary can reasonably have a used Zoe. Brand new Model S is something like 90000€ here. Only someone in top 2% or so can afford these cars. It’s purely a luxury product. Tesla might remain popular with wealthy but it simply cannot take over the mass market due to costs.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

I agree. This article is basically rage bait for the fanboys. Of course a bunch of EV compacts entering the market is gonna detract market share from the big EVs because all the "I'll only buy a compact" people just entered the market and cast their lot in with the compact. Tesla might be losing market share but EVs are very much a "rising tide lifts all ships" situation as they slowly replace more and more ICE vehicles so that's not necessarily indicative of anything. This is very far from a zero sum game.

bhupy 6y ago
Tesla's current valuation is predicated on it essentially becoming the new Toyota (it's worth more than $TM right now). There's little doubt that Tesla can be a sustainable, successful electric automobile business in the "big EV" segment, but a big question is whether it will replace the Toyota Corollas, Camry's, and Priuses of yesteryear. If the answer to that question is "No", then maybe the market cap of TSLA is inflated.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  I know that what you're portraying is every online fanboy's wet dream but it's really unlikely to happen. Tesla's thing is bleeding edge tech. Bleeding edge tech is not what you fill a car full of if you want to sell cars to hordes of people who just want A to B transpiration and are willing to pay a hefty premium for consistency.

lkramer 6y ago

Well, Tesla is valued along side these companies, not as a high end luxury manufacture. And one narrative we have been fed is that Teslas are lightyears ahead of the competition. This article seems to say that is not the case, at least in Europe.

sharpneli 6y ago

Finland has roughly similar GDP per capita as Germany so I would hazard reasons there are similar to here. What you point out is correct if Tesla is a luxury brand. But there is talks how Tesla will become bigger than Toyota or whatnot, which is something that a purely luxury brand cannot do. The thing is that a normal person simply cannot afford a Tesla. But they can afford an EV third of the price. In Finland average gross salary is ~3500€/month which is maybe 2500€/month net. That comes as 30000€ per year net of actual usable money. Renault Zoe costs around 30000€ here brand new. So someone with average salary can reasonably have a used Zoe. Brand new Model S is something like 90000€ here. Only someone in top 2% or so can afford these cars. It’s purely a luxury product. Tesla might remain popular with wealthy but it simply cannot take over the mass market due to costs.