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The Cult of Elon is alive and well. He is a pop culture icon now, and that's marketing that money can't buy.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
I don't think it's about Elon, though in the very early days he certainly helped. They're an upper middle class status symbol now. It's likely gonna take a solid decade of something being better for that to change. As long as the product is at least arguably competitive they'll be fine.
- jariel 6y ago
  Yes, but they are not more of a status symbol that BMW, at least broadly. Their brand power is not going to be enough for them to live in a very well established industry of premium and regular brands. Tesla will do fine, I think they will be a legit new car company, but that's just it: 'another' auto player.
  - sergiosgc 6y ago
    > Yes, but they are not more of a status symbol that BMW, at least broadly. Forget BMW. They had a lead with the i3, which they squandered. Their latest EV is the Mini One Electric, which is a rebranded i3. BMW dropped the ball. No decent future lineup of EVs. More importantly, no planned investment in battery factories. BMW is dead in the water, with a lag behind Tesla of 5-10 years. VW is the first brand I see with a less than five year lag behind Tesla. Battery production capacity is a good metric for how much of a competition each manufacturer is. VW should catch up to Tesla a bit before 2025, assuming no delays and assuming no ramp-up of Tesla Gigafactory investment.
    - jariel 6y ago
      In the short term - yes. But it's a massive, massive industry. Maybe the biggest. 5 years is a blip. The 'brand value' of BMW is going nowhere, same can be said for 'all the other brands'. The industry will catch up, brand by brand, at which point it remains to be seen what Tesla will look like in the mix. My prediction is that it's a 2cnd tier player, but they are growing fast, they could put themselves in the position of being a major player no doubt. But I don't see the other brands changing that much in terms of status.

I don't think it's about Elon, though in the very early days he certainly helped. They're an upper middle class status symbol now. It's likely gonna take a solid decade of something being better for that to change. As long as the product is at least arguably competitive they'll be fine.

jariel 6y ago
Yes, but they are not more of a status symbol that BMW, at least broadly. Their brand power is not going to be enough for them to live in a very well established industry of premium and regular brands. Tesla will do fine, I think they will be a legit new car company, but that's just it: 'another' auto player.
- sergiosgc 6y ago
  > Yes, but they are not more of a status symbol that BMW, at least broadly. Forget BMW. They had a lead with the i3, which they squandered. Their latest EV is the Mini One Electric, which is a rebranded i3. BMW dropped the ball. No decent future lineup of EVs. More importantly, no planned investment in battery factories. BMW is dead in the water, with a lag behind Tesla of 5-10 years. VW is the first brand I see with a less than five year lag behind Tesla. Battery production capacity is a good metric for how much of a competition each manufacturer is. VW should catch up to Tesla a bit before 2025, assuming no delays and assuming no ramp-up of Tesla Gigafactory investment.
  - jariel 6y ago
    In the short term - yes. But it's a massive, massive industry. Maybe the biggest. 5 years is a blip. The 'brand value' of BMW is going nowhere, same can be said for 'all the other brands'. The industry will catch up, brand by brand, at which point it remains to be seen what Tesla will look like in the mix. My prediction is that it's a 2cnd tier player, but they are growing fast, they could put themselves in the position of being a major player no doubt. But I don't see the other brands changing that much in terms of status.