Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel
There is a market precedent for a premium attached to RWD sedans and Tesla benefits from that. We are starting there, at a minimum, when talking about an equivalent vehicle. Among those RWD sedans on the market, the $46K-starting-MSRP Tesla Model 3 is nowhere near the low mark in questionable value. There are all manner of low end Lexus IS or GS, BMW 3 or 5 Series, Mercedes C or E Class, Infiniti Q50 or Q70, Jaguar XE or XF, and probably others that either meet or eclipse the Tesla in price while offering questionable content for their privilege of ownership.
You are letting the hoards of people out there who don't blink while buying these as-marketed "premium" vehicles, often starting at $50k or sometimes $60k or more, slip past your bullshit radar while turning around and calling them out on the spot for peaking in at a Tesla store. Time to recalibrate.
The buying public is full of people willing to pay a dear price for a vehicle just because it is a fancy RWD sport sedan with a European or Japanese badge. Heck, in some cases they are paying through the nose for these cars and they are not RWD nor even particularly sporty - the Camry-based Lexus ES should jump to mind. Now, some of them are noticing they can get a Model 3 at those prices, and it just happens to offer a more engaging drive than most of those others I mention. Plus, yeah, its electric too, so for those that fall into the win column on what that offers, they actually walk away with the better purchase.
This *is* the market we are in. Tesla *is* selling a non-insignificant volume of vehicles to this crowd. True story.
|
I've been in a Tesla 3, it's nowhere near the over-all quality car of the ones you think it competes with. You state the Model 3 starts at $46K, yet fail to mention that the AutoPilot alone is a $5,000 option and that it makes no point to buy a Tesla without AutoPilot because the entire tech fantasy that the Model 3 is, is based on its perceived ability to drive itself in some low-complexity traffic situations. So the real lowest price of the Model 3 right now is $51K (less $3,500 from us fellow tax payers). The Tesla 3 just had an instantaneous $4,000 price hike as of Jan 1st.
The re-calibration needs to be at Tesla where Musk promised a $35K 4-door sedan BEFORE the $7,500 tax incentive (now missing from his "adjusted" price), which the 400,000+ messiah-following Musk-head junkies signed up for. If there is bullshit being flung, go look at Tesla, not me.