"Tesla Motors initially expected to sell at least 5,000 units in 2012 and set a sales target of 20,000." (1)
As of January 2013's run rate, it takes GM 72 hours to sell that many cars. (2)
How about a comparable luxury target?
MB did 305,072 vehicles in 2012, so they do Tesla's sales every 2-weeks. (3)
Perfect comps? No way, but still . . .
To call Tesla an "early adopters" brand where you're going to run into some bullshit, is an under-statement.
I was considering a Model S as my next vehicle, and even if the NYT article is accurate that dissuades me zero percent. I get that this vehicle is going to have some problems - BUT IT'S ELECTRIC AND BIG AND SEXY AND FAST AND NOBODY ELSE HAS ONE!
But watching Musk's response to going full-Nerd-Nuclear (without CONCLUSIVE data) to trash a journalist and the institution of the NYT actually does give me pause in wanting to support that brand.
In other words, in my personal case (of one person, one piece of data) Musk is damaging Tesla's goodwill more than he's helping it.
That sounds like an extraordinarily small amount of degradation. Sufficiently small, in fact, that I suspect that your capacity measurements may be off.
Capacity should decrease 5-10% per annum, from what I've read.
As of January 2013's run rate, it takes GM 72 hours to sell that many cars. (2)
How about a comparable luxury target?
MB did 305,072 vehicles in 2012, so they do Tesla's sales every 2-weeks. (3)
Perfect comps? No way, but still . . .
To call Tesla an "early adopters" brand where you're going to run into some bullshit, is an under-statement.
I was considering a Model S as my next vehicle, and even if the NYT article is accurate that dissuades me zero percent. I get that this vehicle is going to have some problems - BUT IT'S ELECTRIC AND BIG AND SEXY AND FAST AND NOBODY ELSE HAS ONE!
But watching Musk's response to going full-Nerd-Nuclear (without CONCLUSIVE data) to trash a journalist and the institution of the NYT actually does give me pause in wanting to support that brand.
In other words, in my personal case (of one person, one piece of data) Musk is damaging Tesla's goodwill more than he's helping it.
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S
(2) http://www.gm.com/content/gmcom/home/company/investors/sales...
(3) http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46221