The Tesla Model 3 Killed the Rest of American Luxury

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Will be interesting to see how Tesla does this year. The tax credit got cut in half and they have yet to deliver the base $35K car. They just lost their CFO (again) and they have a huge bond payment coming up in March. SpaceX is bleeding cash. I canceled my pre-order 3 after getting tired of waiting with zero communication from Tesla. To be continued…

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Yes, the CFO, the bond, the Space X and i stepped in a puddle of water today…what’s up with that?!
Zero communication? I’m not on their list and still get calls from them…are you sure you are doing it right?
I doubt any base bare bone Model 3 orders will get any fed credit…but in L.A. you still have $3500 in rebates so it’s something. The thing is, if you want to go ev, you really have just one choice if you want no compromises. I’m ok with compromising as long as it’s super cheap…so i’ll keep leasing these ev wannabees.

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So which one is the one with no compromises?

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My concern with Tesla is less their ability to sell vehicles and more about what happens if one of the legacy car companies went deep into the EV field.

I suppose none of us know what it takes per month for Tesla to stay open (re: them never having made profit, or always robbing peter to pay paul) but I’m sure a big part of their current model is the cash flow from delivering X units per month.

If say, Volkswagen Group or someone came in with 3-4 models that directly compete w/ them, how would they fare? Can they make it if they lose ~15% of their monthly cash flow?

For me, I’m less aware and don’t see any waves when they have execs quit as it’s a car company and there are tons of turnover in that world - it’s just never news like it is w/ Tesla since it’s so “in” to hate on them.

I’d really worry when they have actual competition, because right now they have none and they’re on what seems to be life support year over year.

Unless they specifically broke out us figures, this is a bit incorrect. I’d say they made a dent though

EDIT: Missed the “American” part. This is probably a true statement.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/contrary-to-musk-s-tweet-tesla-isn-t-the-no-1-premium-carmaker

We should be asking what have the American luxury automakers been doing wrong to not compete with Tesla?

It’s no secret that Cadillac and Lincoln have been struggling across the board with the exception of the land yacht luxury SUVs, they will need to continue to innovate to do better.

It’s nice to see an American made car back on top of a segment, other than pickup trucks. Personally, if the Model 3 leased as well as an A4, 3-series, or C300, my next lease would be the Model 3.

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In three years High Schoolers will be driving around 2018 Model 3s for 18-20k.

Tesla’s total market was 83% of all EV cars at end of 2018.

The last time there was this much of a discrepancy was when Ford released the assembly line. :open_mouth:

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I don’t know if I go with this… Tesla cars haven’t been following traditional residual value market norms. 2013 Model S cars in decent condition and average mileage still go for 50k+.

I saw a lot of cars under 45k, but they appeared to be in poor condition, but who’s to say?

Maybe the fact that there’s hundreds of thousands of Model 3s on the roads that their values will drop quicker.

Luxury vehicle sales in 2018 (US market):

  1. Tesla Model 3 (140,317 units)
  2. Lexus RX (111,641 units)
  3. BMW 3-series and 4-series (75,957 units)
  4. Audi Q5 (69,978 units)
  5. Mercedes-Benz GLC (69,727 units)
  6. BMW X3 and X4 (65,674 units)
  7. Acura RDX (63,580 units)
  8. Lexus NX (62,079 units)
  9. Cadillac XT5 (60,565 units)
  10. Audi A4 and A5 (60,538 units)
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I would not think # 2 and 7 would be ranked that high.

The Lexus RX created the market for the luxury crossover and has been no. 1 in it ever since.

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Not sure what else I could do. I pre-ordered about 2 weeks after they announced it. Canceled it about 9 months ago. They had no clue when the car would be ready and kept pushing back the ETA every few weeks. The car was for my Wife so instead we found a Lexus that has been absolutely flawless.

There are some epic tweets about Tesla service once you own the car. They have a serious lack of service and extra parts if something breaks. Here is a pretty good one about buying a used Tesla. https://mobile.twitter.com/ParadiseTrader3/status/1085980201194934272

Suburban women love their RXs. Dowdy, practical, luxurious, and just uppity enough for the country club. Also why I’m a big fan of it

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Got the NX which is really nice. Tiny trunk and tiny gas tank. MPG with AWD also sucks and you have to fill up every 300 miles. Other than that it’s damn near perfect for her needs.

Paradise Trader? 2017 info? Is that to you worth commenting on? I’m sure there will be some issues especially now with the 3 explosion but as far as i read they are also expanding their service center network. Time will tell…

This is an ongoing problem…manufactures keep making ev promises for years and then fail to deliver. You have to actually shop for one to realize how few choices you have. I had these same discussions on forums in 2016 when i leases my first ev and at that time i was convinced in '19 i would have plenty to choose from. Guess what…you really don’t. Some extra models here and there, some halfway evs, some in limited supply, and all being poorly stocked by dealers.
As for VW…i would not give them much thought. The Neo will not be sold in US and for the Crozz you will have to wait until 2021 to get a lease on it. With the exception of the Koreans, none of the main car manufacturers seem to be in any hurry to make evs so Tesla has lots of time on their hands.
It’s also kind of silly to think the ev market of the future will not have enough space for manufactures to coexist.

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That’s going to depend on insurance premiums as well as price.