Tesla Says Right Now It Doesn't Need To Advertise At All

He's right. If everyone you build is already sold and the wait for a new customer is over a year save your money. As the competition heats up, then start ads to lock in customers.

Indeed - he cannot make money on the cars he has available for sale now - so why advertise them. BUT - the problem is - he is projecting profit WHEN production of the Model 3 reaches 10,000 per week. THERE is NO car that sells in those numbers in the USA at all. WE have no indication that the demand for a compact entry level electric vehicle with an abysmal interior will reach anywhere near that level. And without dealers - the cars will all be on his books.

Well, kind of. The unveiling events are advertising. Also Tesla gets a lot of positive coverage, including fan-made commercials, vlogs, and enthusiastic owners showing off the car. The sales galleries/stores and the supercharger network also serve to advertise the brand and the experience.

They already have enough orders to sell 10,000 cars/week for nearly a year, so obviously the demand is already there.

10,000/week is 520,000 a year in unit sales of Model 3 sedans of all levels. TomM is right in that no "car" for sale in the USA in 2016 has hit that metric. The Ford Mustang beat that metric in 1965 and 1966 and it wasn't even a practical car. The only vehicles that hit or far exceed that figure in modern day sales are full size trucks from all 3 US makers. If the Model 3 transcends the car competition and becomes a phenomenon like a cell phone or a crazy kids game or the original Mustang, then who knows. It will be interesting to see what first year sales are 12 months from now.

What Tesla pays them with is inspiration, something that the legacy brands have a really hard time to muster these days.

The "salespeople" in the store don't even get a commission on cars, you really think they would be wasting money to pay commentors? So far they have paid nothing for commercials/traditional ads/etc.

The fact that Autospies (and countless other online outlets as well as mainstream media) posts articles about Tesla on a daily basis confirms that they don't need to spend money to advertise. Even negative comments can have a positive effect - especially the outrageous ones - since people with some sense of logic or reality will do fact-checking and come to a conclusion on their own.

Tesla does not spend much on marketing while getting a lot of free exposure. Not a bad strategy, and is something other automakers would kill to have - except of course emission fraud and massive recalls.

That is in your head, I'm assuming with a bunch of other conspiracy theories.