Toyota CEO Says Tesla Has The iPhone Formula For Success - Do You Agree?

Article "...what Tesla is producing is something close to an iPhone."

Really? In what way?

...Apple makes 2/3 of its revenue from iPhones, while Tesla is 100% EVs.

...Apple is massively profitable and cash wealthy (with hundreds of billions in cash), while Tesla is bleeding red ink and regularly taps into capital markets for operating capital, just to stay afloat.

...Apple makes products that look and feel "premium" while Tesla's expensive vehicles are delivered with misaligned doors and panels, and an interior that has been called "cheap looking" by many people.

...Apple delivers new products according to a self-define schedule that they keep (fairly well). Tesla is infamous for missing its own sales targets and has never been able to ramp up production anywhere close to their self-defined targets.


Where I DO see similarities between an iPhone and a Tesla:

...Expensive products

...Extremely loyal following, who is willing to put up with almost anything so long as they get their product.

...Manufacturer positions themselves and their products as "leading edge tech"

...The competition is producing some impressive stuff.


I don't know if Toyota needs to be more like Apple or their products more like iPhones. After all, Lexus vehicles aren't direct competition to MB, BMW, or Audi, and yet they seem to be selling quite well, and they carry their own strongly positive reputation (aside from their polarizing styling).

Maybe you missed the point - you should've read the whole quote, not just the last part. The comparison between Tesla and Apple is about ecosystem. Like Apple, as well as the top tech companies (MSFT, AMZN, GOOG, FB,... ), Tesla is building an ecosystem around its EVs.

Like any complex system, it may take some time for everything to come together - but it's happening. Toyoda, as well as executives from German companies, are wise enough to recognize it and have plans to keep up. Pity the American Big 3 who only see next quarter's profit with a denial mentality.

Tesla definitely has the "it" factor, but it's too early to call it a new "Apple". Apple has done well for itself since its near-death experience, but it has also created "must have" products over the span of two decades. The Model X was a stumble and the Model 3 is dull and lackluster. The latter will sell because Tesla is trendy, but when they do a Model 3 crossover--and they will--the Model X will implode for sales. Sales of the X are already soft.

Certainly, they aren't first but cracked the EV market. But like Apple may face tough times.

They do in some key ways:

1. Ecosystem: Tesla has built a proprietary charging network similar to the iTunes store
2. Extremely loyal fan base...think of all the people who placed deposits on the model 3. Most other car companies couldn't even get that many people to care about their upcoming releases (much less put down $$$).
3. A charismatic CEO whose presentations people actually take the time to watch.

With that being said, I strongly believe that Tesla is more interested in being the leader in battery tech than building cars.

Apple was losing money hand over foot for a long period of time and almost went bankrupt (its when I switched over to PCs).

So far there are a lot of parallels to early-Apple v2.0 (when Steve Jobs came back) and Tesla will only make money when growth slows down or they out-engineer existing companies on high-volume cars. It won't be soon.

and when Tesla 2.0 comes about I'm sure they'll start making money.