Elon Musk, what is the catch?

[Ford]

Elon Musk is on the same level as a Bond villain.

[ixulescu]

"Tesla To Shut Most Of Its Stores Worldwide"

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/03/t...of-its-stores/

Yes, but the reason is because they generated little traffic and sales. Tesla sells through word of mouth, they do no traditional advertising, and showrooms can be considered part of advertising.

From what I understand, the way sales is going to work from now on is like this: you order the car online, the car is dropped at the door, and you have 7 days and 1000 miles to make your mind if you want to keep it.

Tesla is saying that money from the stores it's going to be invested in more service centers (which seems to be more important for the customers atm).

[Harkonnen]

Problem right now is that the expensive models are not selling and they are not making profit with the cheaper ones.

[Óttar]

TSLA stock price will come down eventually. After any pull-back in the economy, car companies sell luxuries that people can't afford.

[ixulescu]

Problem right now is that the expensive models are not selling and they are not making profit with the cheaper ones.

I'm not sure what you mean. In the US, Tesla sells more than the entire premium segment (of similarly priced cars).

In other markets (Europe and China) they are just starting selling the Model 3.
The same holds true for lower priced Tesla. Just yesterday they launched the $35k model. We'll see how that sells.

[Harkonnen]

I'm not sure what you mean. In the US, Tesla sells more than the entire premium segment (of similarly priced cars).

In other markets (Europe and China) they are just starting selling the Model 3.
The same holds true for lower priced Tesla. Just yesterday they launched the $35k model. We'll see how that sells.

Yeah but the sails for premium segment are going down.


These are Tesla's official numbers
ir.tesla.com/static-files/0b913415-467d-4c0d-be4c-9225c2cb0ae0

Tesla Q3 last year:

Model 3 average prize: $60 800
Model 3 production cost: $48 000
S and X models average prize: $108 000
S and X models production cost: $75 000

In addition to these numbers every car made cost Tesla $13 700 in other expenses (marketing etc). This means they were losing money every model 3 sold.


Numbers for Q4:

Model 3 average prize $53 000
Model 3 production cost: $42 400
S and X models prize: $107 500
S and X models cost: $74 700

Other expenses: $12 800

This year production cost is still likely going down (but so is prize) so Tesla is likely making profit by end of the year with model 3 - but not much.


So you can see Tesla would much rather sell Premium models, but like said there are signs that demand for those is going down.

[ixulescu]

Yeah but the sails for premium segment are going down.


These are Tesla's official numbers
ir.tesla.com/static-files/0b913415-467d-4c0d-be4c-9225c2cb0ae0

Tesla Q3 last year:

Model 3 average prize: $60 800
Model 3 production cost: $48 000
S and X models average prize: $108 000
S and X models production cost: $75 000

In addition to these numbers every car made cost Tesla $13 700 in other expenses (marketing etc). This means they were losing money every model 3 sold.


Numbers for Q4:

Model 3 average prize $53 000
Model 3 production cost: $42 400
S and X models prize: $107 500
S and X models cost: $74 700

Other expenses: $12 800

This year production cost is still likely going down (but so is prize) so Tesla is likely making profit by end of the year with model 3 - but not much.

Still, Tesla made a profit in both Q3 and Q4.
Regardless, Tesla is not out for profit but growth. They want to capture the market. This means Tesla is aggressively pushing the prices down to get the volume of cars moving.

[Harkonnen]

https://evsalestracker.com/#/Tesla

Sales looks to be down.

[Harkonnen]

https://www.gurufocus.com/news/86321...a98f867757282f

Tesla cannot sell its current vehicle lineup profitably on a sustainable basis. As tax credits expire and new competitors enter the electric vehicle market, Tesla will face increasing pressure to cut prices again, further diminishing its margins.Meanwhile, it is rapidly burning through cash just to keep the lights on.

Tesla’s $45 billion valuation is based on the belief that it can rapidly and profitably scale production of its current and planned products. In other words, Tesla is valued for its growth story. That story came to an end on April 24. The market has not yet fully come to terms with this fact, but it will soon enough. Mounting losses and disappointing sales will inevitably trigger a severe downward price correction.

[Marmara]

Elon Musk is a phony.