Tesla Battles Dealer Associations.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by JJIII

There is no "Dealership. Remember... "Direct Sales".

There are dealerships and service centers......the factory owns them.

It only a matter of ownership.

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by BeamOn

My intuition says that Tesla will only attract buyers in metropolitan areas. This from Forbes:
"Upstart automaker Tesla Motors TSLA +1.27% won’t sell as many cars this year as Chevrolet sells in 3 days, but its early success with the all-electric Model S sedan is already keeping the competition up at night." (2013)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogo...e-competition/

So I don't see them needing more than say twenty sales/service centers for now. 100,000 units are projected for 2016.

Right. At the moment, the price of the vehicles will keep the sales and service centers located near affluent areas. In time all of that could change with increased volume.

Dave

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

Ice I see what you be sayin', but Tesla is a niche market company that will never have dealers everywhere (selling just their current product anyway). They did just build a recharge station near me though.

Pete

So, they own recharge centers too? You know this all could just be to get the product out there and the ball rolling, with franchising to come at a later date.

Bear in mind, they are dealing with resistance not only from automotive competitors, but the petroleum industry as well. Maybe they only way to prove viability is to push expansion in the short term rather than wait for an unwary market? When faced with such powerful adversaries, you'd have to stay ahead of their efforts to demean and ridicule your product.

Risky? Oh, absolutely. However......See my signature.

Dave

[piece-itpete]

Well the current Tesla starts at $59,900 so even if they brought the price down appreciably I doubt they'll be big sellers in Cleveland city limits anytime soon

Pete

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

So, they own recharge centers too? You know this all could just be to get the product out there and the ball rolling, with franchising to come at a later date.

Bear in mind, they are dealing with resistance not only from automotive competitors, but the petroleum industry as well. Maybe they only way to prove viability is to push expansion in the short term rather than wait for an unwary market? When faced with such powerful adversaries, you'd have to stay ahead of their efforts to demean and ridicule your product.

Risky? Oh, absolutely. However......See my signature.

Dave

The 'pumps' are Tesla branded, if that means anything. The next time I'm there I'll get out and read the sign.

Love the signature!

Pete

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Yes, there's a two-tiered labor rate, customer rate and warranty rate. Also, warranty parts are reimbursed at a lower rate, I think above cost but not by much.

John

I belong to a couple sites that mechs frequent. Here's an example: on the latest GM recall (a new one involving SRS lights on light trucks/SUVs) GM will pay the dealer between .3 and .5 hours to: remove both front seats, solder 8 connections, 'build new connectors' (whatever that actually means), and reinstall the seats.

I know those guys are WAY faster than me, but really??

Pete

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

Well the current Tesla starts at $59,900 so even if they brought the price down appreciably I doubt they'll be big sellers in Cleveland city limits anytime soon

Pete

True. But, looking forward I'm hoping technology will advance until electric cars become more competitive and that won't happen unless companies like Tesla continue to fight the good fight. Then, the bigger manufacturers will get on board and scale will bring prices down. Could take a few more decades, unfortunately. It's a shame to note that we could have already been there, if not for the massive resistance of past decades.

Dave

[JJIII]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

There are dealerships and service centers......the factory owns them.

It only a matter of ownership.

Dave

OK, thanks.

[piece-itpete]

Batteries have been inadequate. Have you seen how Tesla does it?



They wire 6,831 (laptop? Cellphone?) batteries together to do it.

Pete