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Guaranteeing the residual value of a Mercedes S Class seems like a huge, huge gamble to me. Given the relative technological rate of change for electric cars v
by bishnu 14y ago
Guaranteeing the residual value of a Mercedes S Class seems like a huge, huge gamble to me. Given the relative technological rate of change for electric cars vs internal combustion engines, doesn't this have the potential to be a huge financial hit for Tesla?
- dasil003 14y agoWell look at it this way. If they can't ramp up adoption they're done sooner than later anyway. If they're selling a lot more cars in the future, they can eat a significant loss on today's numbers.
- fnordfnordfnord 14y agoMercedes S-Class have terrible resale value vs purchase price. Should be an easy mark to hit.
- joncooper 14y agoThis is the most salient point here. It seems like a ballsy move but is in fact much less so given you're benchmarked to a car with what is probably bottom-10% residual.
- crapshoot101 14y agoAs someone pointed out up thread, they aren't guaranteeing the value - they're guaranteeing the % of value / original sales price, which is unlikely to suffer. In other words, if there are huge technology improvements in the S Class, you'd pay for it up front AND in the used car price (sure, the curve might be slightly different, but if anything, may be steeper).