Posted on 04/10/2016 5:55:38 PM PDT by jazusamo
You’ve got to marvel at the man’s sense of timing and showmanship. Whenever there’s bad news on the horizon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk just takes off his top hat, waves a magic wand, and pulls out a shiny new rabbit. He may have missed last quarter’s production target, but then, he pulled out the shiny new Model 3. And all is forgiven.
Well, not exactly.
The master of hyperbole has proven that Tesla can ship tens of thousands of luxury electric cars – albeit years later and for $30,000 more apiece than originally promised. And, even at $106K, Tesla still burns cash on every car sold, not to mention all the quality and production growing pains the company’s been experiencing.
While that slight of hand has worked on Musk’s wealthy Silicon Valley fan boys and cult-crazed investors, I doubt it will be effective with everyday consumers as Tesla attempts to challenge the likes of GM, Toyota and Mercedes as a mass-market supplier of a broad range of cars.
Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe this is just another example of an innovative tech entrepreneur disrupting an age-old market like Amazon did in retail, Google in advertising, Netflix in video, Uber in ground transportation, Airbnb in hospitality and GrubHub in food delivery.
Besides, it’s not as if up-selling is limited to tech. Consumers didn’t always fork over $100 for a pair of blue jeans or sneakers. Who knew you could triple the price of a $20 sweatshirt just by calling it a hoody? Or get millions of people to feel good about not working out by selling them a whole new wardrobe of athleisure wear.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
How much does it cost to charge the batteries of a Model 3?
1. Not sure I want to pay $100K for a Chevy Volt 2. I like to be able to go on a 400 - 800 mile trip...don’t see that happening with a Tesla. 3. What’s the cost of recycling the battery pack on those turkeys? 4. Do these things burn down garages/houses like the Volt?
P.T Musk -”There’s a sucker born every minute!”
Not with gasoline under $3 it won’t.
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