Katie Fehrenbacher of gigaom.com discusses Tesla’s strategy for the release of the upcoming Model 3 in this article. Here are some snippets:
But launching the Model 3, which is supposed to come out first in 2017 and have its first full year of sales in 2018, will no doubt be risky. It will be Tesla’s riskiest move to date, following the launch of its initial car, the Roadster. While the subsequent Model S was by all accounts a success, a low cost, long range vehicle with a brand new platform design is a new beast entirely, and one which will be affected by thousands of difficult decisions Tesla makes, not to mention a variety of external factors like what are competitors launching and the cost of oil that year.
I think that given Tesla’s reputation, the Model 3 is an excellent bet. Not only are their electric cars green but they are just good cars. They are fast, good-looking and have great safety standards. Their formula is something other manufacturers are trying to copy.
A couple years ago, Tesla’s Chief Designer Franz Von Holzhausen told me that the Model 3 could potentially have a much more provocative and expressive look than the pretty standard Model S sedan. But during Tesla’s earnings call last week, Musk indicated that Tesla might launch a more conservative and basic initial Model 3, but follow-on versions of the car that could be more avant garde.
I agree that the best way forward to minimize the potential of delays is to keep it simple at the beginning. Tesla can release more “Ds” later on.
On the earnings call last week, an analyst asked Musk why if Tesla was taking so many cues from Apple on execution and product, it wouldn’t continue to focus on higher end luxury products like its new Model D? Apple wasn’t focused on launching a $30 iPhone, noted the analyst. To that Musk replied:
“The goal of Tesla has always been to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport, and make electric cars happen faster. We need to make a lot of electric cars [for that to happen] and make them more affordable.” And in that way, he’s not like Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs at all.
Elon Musk has shown that he has a vision for society (and not just limited to cars). He is a real pioneer and I think he’ll be touching more people’s lives in the near future than many of us realize.
Discussion: http://www.montrealracing.com/forums/showthread.php?882713-Teslas-Model-3-Strategy
