[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Except that Tesla is, as a point of fact, conquesting customers from all of those makes, including BMW with the 3 Series near the top of the list.

Moreover, the quality of ICE vehicles on the market doesn’t suddenly take a nose dive when you drop down to $35K. In fact, it’s just the opposite - many of the products in that bracket match or exceed the quality of those that fall into the premium segments I mentioned earlier. Furthermore, obviously the Model 3's quality will not magically, drastically improve at a $35K price. So to the same extent that quality is the reason the Model 3 doesn’t make sense at a mid-$40K purchase price, it’s still going to be a factor at at a mid-$30K purchase price.

If you don’t want the pain of having a nerve bumped, bough out of the discussion. We are not going to play the same “shoot the messenger” game over and over.



Nonsense. Stop trolling.

We could tack all sorts of “must have” options onto any car on the market and jack up the price of entry to a fake number to suit an agenda. But we’re not going to do that. The car starts at $46k MSRP, period. Edit: Actually, it is $44K now, as of January 2nd.

While sales numbers for the Model 3 are now at the rate of 20,000/month for the last fiscal quarter, the monthly sales numbers for the BMW 3, Audi A4, and Merc C-class have stayed flat during the same time period, and those monthly numbers reflect an overall market shift away from sedans to SUVs that started trending in 2015. To add further, the BMW 3 is in the midst of a model change over. I think the market numbers are showing what the take up rate for European "sport sedans" is now with economic and vehicle-type preference shifts in effect. I speculate the Tesla 3 numbers reflect the take up rate of tech-minded folks who were never in the "sports sedan" market prior to Tesla, and who buy cars more related to the newfangled electric-save-the-planet fashion statement.

I'll pass judgement on the veracity of the Tesla 3 in another 18 months or so when the incentives and cool new tech wears off and sales reflect a more rational purchase thought from mainstream consumers.

What is interesting is the 400,000+ $1,000 payments for a manufacturing slot (circa May 2016) really didn't materialize all that much, since it is evident one can order a Model 3 and take delivery in 4 weeks or so. Being the sales numbers for the Model 3 just passed 149,000 as of December 2018, something is not being explained why there is not a 250,000 unit wait list, which should equate to at least a 10-month time period.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I'll pass judgement on the veracity of the Tesla 3 in another 18 months or so

Great idea. Maybe that’ll give a chance to get your story straight. I’ll hold you to your word then.

And hey, by then, the short range, non-premium $35k Model 3 will either be here, or it probably won’t ever be coming. Given all the people (200k+) who put down their $1000 with the promise of getting one at that price, still waiting for it to surface, it’s probably gonna spell doom for the company if they can’t bring it to market.