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CNN's answer to the question: 'What's wrong with Tesla'

7 points by MilnerRoute 3y ago

MilnerRoute 3y ago
[flagged]
aprilthird2021 3y ago
I don't think Musk's personality has anything to do with it tbh. I think other manufacturers are eating into Tesla's share because they also make cool cars with interesting value props. I don't get why, but people seem to love the Porsche EVs. Tesla is no longer the only upscale EV with great range, and self-driving isn't honestly a huge enough draw for customers compared to the competition. There's also been some reliability issues with Teslas (not the batteries, more like the doors, paneling, etc.) that the seasoned vehicle manufacturers can prevent better and handle better if they do pop up
MichaelMug 3y ago
> Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, could also be causing problems for the brand with his increasingly controversial public pronouncements. We arrive at the real reason for this article. Lots of articles recently about Tesla’s performance. And, they all casually mention Elon’s views as a culprit. I don’t buy it. I suspect this is part of some campaign due to the events of Twitter/X. Tesla’s performance is the result of something else. I’d like to read an article that does some investigation rather than speculation.
- croes 3y ago
  Musk's behavior surely doesn't help.
- Arnt 3y ago
  Tesla has lost a part of the market, maybe 20% or more. Elon has en extremely high public profile and part of the buying public (far from 100%) think negatively of him. Why would the two phenomena not be connected?
- rsynnott 3y ago
  I mean, a _huge_ part of car marketing is around image. It would be surprising if the close association of a brand with a loud weirdo arsehole did _not_ have an impact. Some fraction of buyers would be embarrassed at the association.
h2odragon 3y ago
When Musk was the media darling, neither he nor his companies could be reported to have done anything wrong. Now that he is Enemy for the media; neither he nor his companies can be reported to have done anything right (cf Starship tests). This really is the level of sophistication the media runs at. Kindergarten personality dramas.
ZeroGravitas 3y ago
I think a lot of this is just journalist math. > Some automakers, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Rivian, are reporting EV sales growth of more than 50% over the past year, noted Stephanie Valdez Streaty, an analyst with Cox Automotive, in a presentation summarizing industry trends in the new year. Ford later said its EV sales were up 86%. “Looking at the data, the big [EV] slowdown is shaping up to be a Tesla slowdown,” said Valdez Streaty. Tesla has something like 55% of the US EV market in 2023 so a competitor growing 50% would account for the same amount of additional sales as Tesla growing at about 5%. Tesla is protected from Chinese competition in their home market and is riding the wave with Chinese manufactured cars with Chinese batteries in the rest of the world.
isodev 3y ago
Is it really surprising? Tesla's main product has been stagnating for years, the bespoke auto-pilot still very much out of reach. Tesla factories continue to be ecological and labour "pain points" (at least here in Europe) and Elon engaging in censorship, sloganeering and generally examples of poor human behaviour across all his companies is really not helpful. Of course people will notice and perhaps overpriced EVs is not what everyone wants after all.

7 points by MilnerRoute 3y ago

[flagged]

aprilthird2021 3y ago

I don't think Musk's personality has anything to do with it tbh. I think other manufacturers are eating into Tesla's share because they also make cool cars with interesting value props. I don't get why, but people seem to love the Porsche EVs. Tesla is no longer the only upscale EV with great range, and self-driving isn't honestly a huge enough draw for customers compared to the competition. There's also been some reliability issues with Teslas (not the batteries, more like the doors, paneling, etc.) that the seasoned vehicle manufacturers can prevent better and handle better if they do pop up

MichaelMug 3y ago

> Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, could also be causing problems for the brand with his increasingly controversial public pronouncements. We arrive at the real reason for this article. Lots of articles recently about Tesla’s performance. And, they all casually mention Elon’s views as a culprit. I don’t buy it. I suspect this is part of some campaign due to the events of Twitter/X. Tesla’s performance is the result of something else. I’d like to read an article that does some investigation rather than speculation.

croes 3y ago
Musk's behavior surely doesn't help.
Arnt 3y ago
Tesla has lost a part of the market, maybe 20% or more. Elon has en extremely high public profile and part of the buying public (far from 100%) think negatively of him. Why would the two phenomena not be connected?
rsynnott 3y ago
I mean, a _huge_ part of car marketing is around image. It would be surprising if the close association of a brand with a loud weirdo arsehole did _not_ have an impact. Some fraction of buyers would be embarrassed at the association.

h2odragon 3y ago

When Musk was the media darling, neither he nor his companies could be reported to have done anything wrong. Now that he is Enemy for the media; neither he nor his companies can be reported to have done anything right (cf Starship tests). This really is the level of sophistication the media runs at. Kindergarten personality dramas.

ZeroGravitas 3y ago

I think a lot of this is just journalist math. > Some automakers, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Rivian, are reporting EV sales growth of more than 50% over the past year, noted Stephanie Valdez Streaty, an analyst with Cox Automotive, in a presentation summarizing industry trends in the new year. Ford later said its EV sales were up 86%. “Looking at the data, the big [EV] slowdown is shaping up to be a Tesla slowdown,” said Valdez Streaty. Tesla has something like 55% of the US EV market in 2023 so a competitor growing 50% would account for the same amount of additional sales as Tesla growing at about 5%. Tesla is protected from Chinese competition in their home market and is riding the wave with Chinese manufactured cars with Chinese batteries in the rest of the world.

isodev 3y ago

Is it really surprising? Tesla's main product has been stagnating for years, the bespoke auto-pilot still very much out of reach. Tesla factories continue to be ecological and labour "pain points" (at least here in Europe) and Elon engaging in censorship, sloganeering and generally examples of poor human behaviour across all his companies is really not helpful. Of course people will notice and perhaps overpriced EVs is not what everyone wants after all.