Talking Business: Is The All-New Tesla Model X Going To Actually KILL TSLA?

Reports of how slow the falcon doors are to open and how they sometimes need assistance to shut properly just means that quality concern will get worse over time as the components age. Pictures of the doors not being able to open in tight spaces--where conventional doors would be OK-- are hilarious.

Regular doors would have made sense.

The article addresses valid business issues for the company. It is all cash flow and the company needs to be spending its limited cash on developing the lower price higher volume model not on expensive fixes for customers who bought the existing luxury vehicles. If the Model 3 doesn't attract volume customers it will be difficult for Tesla to survive as a standalone. Lutz is on the mark. Pure electric is at a very early stage of market acceptance and range anxiety is a real hurdle to its broader success. Currently hybrid is a bigger market and Tesla needs to play to that broader market.

re: Opening sentence that reads "There's no question that Tesla has proven itself as a worthy auto manufacturer..."

I don't view Tesla this way. I believe we're in the very early days of leaving the Fossil Fuel Era, and just like the Stone Age didn't end because its inhabitants ran out of stones (they abandoned stone tools when they became proficient at working with copper and then bronze), we won't abandon fossil fuels because we run out of oil and natural gas; we'll just become much more proficient at non-fossil energy sources. Sometime in the future, when we look back at the early 21st century, we'll see Tesla Motors as a footnote in automotive technology, as one of the earliest arguably feasible EV manufacturers who didn't stand the test of time.

I agree - so far - all they have shown is that they can produce an expensive car - and still not make a profit on them. The new 4x4 has a lot of expensive toys in it like the doors - that simply were not necessary - but may be Un-necessary ofr the long haul. Until Tesla actually makes a profit - the only thing we know is that they have electric car engineering - as long as they have complete price control. If there were others in competition - TSLA would already be a footnote. ANd with the really really low gas prices - it is hard to justify a Tesla to begin with.

With Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Porsche breathing down its neck with ever increasing plans for electric vehicles of their own Tesla is headed for trying times. One miss step (a poorly thought out model, a major recall, overextension of talent, etc etc) could cause a rapid slide in share value and prospects. The big boys may lag in coming to market first but they have the cash, the engineering, distribution and marketing prowess to take Tesla on and beat it. Tesla's best move may likely be a sale to the Chinese...the earlier the better for shareholders.

Sale to Apple would be their best move provided AAPL is even remotely interested in taking on the troubled mfr.

Agent 00R. APPL has enough challenges in the consumer electronics space without buying a company in a different industry. Yes there is some overlap, but it is small, and the challenges Tesla faces will need lots of cash. It would be a major distraction to APPL. What Tesla has of value to a current automotive company is experience in a next generation drive train, while an auto company can provide the service network, as well as infrastructure that Tesla is missing. These are the ingredients for a successful acquisition or partnership (Ford and Google).

Agent00R: As much as the media likes to speculate about the topic of Apple buying Tesla, it just doesn't make sense. Apple makes the lion's share of its income and profit from selling iPhones, and selling/renting media from the iTunes Store (they're the world's largest music and video distributor). That line of business has nothing to do with cars or EVs.

The only connection between these two companies is that some bloggers note they are both popular tech companies with a high stock price, and from that, they imagine they have something in common, and that one should buy the other.

I wonder any of these negative comments comes from someone who actually test drove a Model S. As a current owner of a Porsche Turbo S, as well as past owner other more mundane cars such as MB, BMW and Jag (no Audi or Lexus here sorry), as well as GM, Ford and Nissan, I can tell you nothing is like driving the P90D. I encourage you guys to test drive one and return with your honest comments.

I am pretty confident everyone is impressed with the Model S' performance; however, when a significant chunk of the vehicles delivered need full drivetrain replacement, that's a bit of a bummer. Just a bit.

I find it interesting the claim that somehow a Model S is a nightmare from a maintenance perspective when it scores better and requires less maintenance than Mercedes S class and BMW 5 series. When you look at public records of warranty spending, Tesla spends less as a % than other US manufacturers. Which indicates the few issues they have are relatively cheap to fix. This is pretty amazing considering that Tesla is a rather new manufacturer.

I also find interesting the comparison to Delorean when Tesla sold 11X more cars than Delorean did.

Though there seems to be a confusion of the purpose of the Model X, and the reason why it came 2 years late and etc. The Model X was put there to monetize the 2nd gen platform until the gigafactory for the Tesla Model 3 was ready. There was simply 0 reason to release the Model X when the Model S was selling far better than expected and maxing out production lines. Come 2016 and 2017, Tesla will have a much larger production yield than Model S can satisfy, thus the perfect time to release the Model X.

The Model X will serve its purpose of maximizing ROI on the 2nd gen platform until the 3rd gen platform is up and running by end of 2017.

Did you pull those stats from your ass? Few issues, huh? Yeah...

Read this, please.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101153_two-thirds-of-earliest-tesla-drive-trains-to-fail-in-60000-miles-owner-data-suggests

An open question is the intermediate and longer term resale value of Tesla's and other electric cars. The overwhelming majority are leased by the early adopters. The elephant in the room is future resale values particularly with the out of warranty cost of a new battery package estimated to be $20,000.

You nailed it!

It seems it's too early to get a REAL read on this.

I wonder what an out of warranty Tesla will go for...

That's the real killer for electric / hybrid cars. I used to have a GS 450H and when I sold it, it was estimated for about the same or sometimes less than a GS350. The culprit being the battery. So until battery prices come down to earth, resale will always be an issue.

It seems that if you want to position yourself to make some profit off of Tesla, perhaps you should invest in a flat-bed auto transport truck in areas with a high concentration of Tesla's - metro NYC, Florida, and CA

The Model X was a patently stupid move. A conventional crossover sanely priced would have given them volume.