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> They have a completely different sales model, so it's apples to oranges. Most OEMs wholesale cars to dealers, of course those margins will be smaller. Well y
by tyree731 4y ago
> They have a completely different sales model, so it's apples to oranges. Most OEMs wholesale cars to dealers, of course those margins will be smaller.
Well yes, but they've been successful with this sales model, and sell cars all the same, so that makes them more valuable in comparison.
- enragedcacti 4y agoThere are a lot of costs to operating a service center and managing customer deliveries that aren't necessarily considered in gross margins for Tesla whereas they are considered in the case of a traditional automaker in a dealership model. I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla still has an advantage compared to manufacturer+dealer but we won't learn that from comparing vehicle margins directly. There's also a lot of super weird dealer kickbacks behind the scenes that can make gross margin misleading for traditional autos, probably in Tesla's favor.
- matthewfcarlson 4y agoAnecdotally, we bought a Tesla a few years ago and it was awesome. Just buy it online, walk up, unlocks with your phone, and drive away. My spouse (a very socially anxious person who despises car dealerships) loved it and said if it made sense, she would never buy a car anywhere else. Granted, the same experience is rolling out for traditional cars (carvana, carmax, etc).