Does Tesla Have The Stuff To Put Millenials At The Wheel?

Whereas cars take huge amounts of time and money to develop, Musk’s brash re-imaginations of the car industry cost little to produce and generate the same fevered public acclaim as the sleek, pricey Model S. In effect, Musk has monetized the public perception that change in the car business is long overdue.

Tesla may not enjoy even 1 percent of market share, but its “mind share” exceeds that of the biggest players, and Musk is by far America’s best-known car executive. (General Motors’ Mary Barra has high name recognition, though not for the right reasons). While Tesla’s hype-to-sales ratio is cause for some investor concern, it’s success holds valuable lessons for a car industry that has a long record of taking its eye off the ball.



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MattDarringer - 7/1/2014 5:29:34 PM

+3 Boost

The real test of Tesla will be how trouble free they are for 100K miles and more. The fact that people are paying Mercedes prices for a product from a company with virtually no experience engineering cars of their own is ridiculous. Tesla has deftly not pointed to "their" last car, a Lotus Elise with batteries bolted in because that would make people wonder if they have the capacity to engineer a car that has the longevity of a Mercedes for the Mercedes price. If Tesla cared about sales rather than hype, they would have a plug-in hybrid model that would appeal to a larger audience i.e. one that is not OK with their car turing into a paper weight when the batteries die.

ParadoX - 7/1/2014 6:59:16 PM

+2 Boost

No. If they want Millennials at the wheel, they are going to have to be able to put out a product that is affordable. Currently they create a product that is priced where only the wealthy can afford it.

vwowner1 - 7/11/2014 9:15:35 AM

+1 Boost

Tesla is already planning to produce and sell a more affordable sedan in the next year or so. It was set to be called the Model X, but I read that they changed their mind on what to name it. Bottom line is yes, a more affordable Tesla is coming. And it should be more accessible to anyone including millennials with the disposable income and/or credit rating.