TESLA: REDEFINING THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Dave Bentson Expert Insight

Tesla completely flipped the age-old automotive industry upside down through rethinking and reimagining the idea of the automobile. A real modern day Henry Ford kind of story, right?

Tesla is widely known for its shocking claims about their automobiles, ranging from the promise that all Tesla Superchargers would be solar-powered to zero-emission net energy generators. But the idea that Tesla will be able to create an affordable all-electric luxury car has been met with a mountain of skepticism and, not just from folks in the automotive industry. I believe we, the Consumers, hope that they are able to pull it off.

While Tesla’s creative personality has skyrocketed the company into one of the premiere luxury car brands, a few aspects of the Tesla models have lagged behind. There are certain other aspects of the company that are not scalable. For example,when we purchase a Tesla, we think about these benefits: no needed gas, no servicing. And if I do need servicing, Tesla will just pick up and fix it.

Tesla’s promise to pick up and dropping off every car sold is fine when Tesla makes 5,000 cars per year. As Tesla grows, when they are selling 30,000 cars per year, they just won’t be able to pick up and drop off every car for servicing. In fact, this provision has already gone away. So as Tesla scales, their perks may need to be scaled back as well.

I like Tesla and what they do to disrupt the traditions of the automotive industry. They’ve boldly defined what the automobile and the industry looks like to them. Then they created their own structure.

Even with some bumps in road, Tesla could be the right car for you. And my goal is to find what best serves you in your car collection. In the end, consumers will benefit from the changes coming that Tesla is at least in part responsible for.
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