Posted by Dar
- February 06, 2023, 17:54:01
As an actual Tesla Model 3 AWD LR owner, I have this to say.
First things first: I was not planning to buy Tesla, but my car broke, the repair shop took 1 month to repair it, and when they did, they actually wrongly installed the belt and it killed my engine. I was pissed off.
As I was browsing their website (Tesla), sales started the chat. After 30 minutes they offered me a 7K discount for a new car that was already there, ready to be delivered (so I could drive off with my new car two days later with all paperwork being done. That is so great experience). True, it was a basic one, no option, but I would not make any anyways. So I made a leap to the unknown. Must say, the experience is very good. I still miss V6 or V8 engine sound, but everything else is great.
So I must say, that it is not Tesla's fault for others not being able to optimize their production, marketing, and sales costs.
The perceived quality of my car is really good (Shangai production). I was very afraid that there will be some badly assembled parts or noise, but for the time being, it just works as advertised.
Where they save money is mostly in marketing ( 1/10 of traditional car makers or even less), and their sales (they do not share the profit with car dealers, they are the ones selling their cars to you directly.
And they streamlined their production to the point where it is very cost-effective, and they keep working on that (similar to how software development is done these days, with small incremental improvements that happen much more frequently (DevOps)):
So, there you have it, it is not greed, it is how business should be run. Remove the costs in those three areas and you will get Tesla's numbers. The price of their car is better value compared to others offer in the same segment.