Cheaper Taycan coming soon

[David Green]

There have been some self inflicted wounds, though he has done many things right. And that is where Tesla and Elon have to mature. Get the job done and then talk.

And unfortunately, Elon does not seem to understand that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Take the autonomous driving. He has dished his competitors, rolled out products that could have used a little more testing. Waymo on the other hand, is quietly and without fanfare rolling out fully autonomous driving, albeit in a geo-fenced area with restrictions on how it is used. Elon on other hand implies that his technology is ready for use under a larger set of parameters, which is not unconditionally true. And this for example, has caused embarrassment. Similarly, there was no need for the spat between NASA and SapceX, Elon could have let the matter die down with getting into it. Even now Elon could put the spelunker controversy to rest by saying he had wrong information, he is sorry and pay a small amount. His ego will not allow him to do so.

While I agree that their Gigagactory 3 would be better planned and less prone to surprises, Elon has not stopped shooting his mouth off. As they say "loose lips sink ships" and that concern I share with @David Green. It is not that Elon is making a big mistake now, it is the fact that he is erratic and this could lead to a big mistake in the future. Neither has he proven that he has grown up, nor has the Board has shown that they are capable of adult supervision.

Well said... Elon causes problems for Tesla, some short term, and some long term. He has lost credibility on wall street with all but the most dedicated Musk followers firms like ARKK which constantly spew propaganda. His press conferences are like romper Room, lots of promises, and very little follow through. Where is the Solar roof? Where is the FSD? Where is the Semi, all were supposed to be here before now according to Elon. Instead we have insiders selling stock like crazy, and top engineers leaving. Think about it guys, how would you like to work at Tesla? Stock options are worth zero as their stock is flat over the last 5 years, and a CEO popping off, and embarrassing the company, all the while the competition is tiptoeing at the back door. That tiptoeing is getting louder and louder every day....

 

[interestedinEV]

I think the Venn diagram of those two groups of customers are going to have very little overlap. But we'll know when we see statistics for how many trade in their Model S for a Taycan. Given the fact that the Model S scores so highly on Consumer Reports' annual list for customer satisfaction, given the fact that it got knocked out of the #1 spot only by the Tesla Model 3, I'm predicting the percentage of Model S owners who trade their car in for a Taycan is going to be very low indeed!

I did not think that was going to overlap between current Tesla owners and Taycan buyers, I thought that potential Tesla S/X buyers could move to the Taycan and that is where Taycan might take away business from Tesla.

Again, not sure how much credence to put to this news report as it is from an Porsche executive but I would not totally discount it either. Also, an expression of interest or deposit is not a sale, the proof of the pudding is in actually converting a Tesla owner to a Taycan owner, which is still a ways away.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/03/por...ners-with-all-electric-taycan-sports-car.html

• Porsche is attracting interest from a surprising amount of Tesla owners for its new all-electric Taycan sports car, the company said.
• Out of “thousands” of potential customers who have shown interest in the Porsche Taycan, Tesla owners are the highest among non-Porsche owners.
• Porsche expects the Taycan to lead the company to record U.S. retail sales in 2020.

Klaus Zellmer, president and CEO Porsche Cars North America, said out of “thousands” of potential U.S. customers who have shown “sincere interest” in the vehicle, Tesla owners are the highest among non-Porsche owners.

“They currently drive a Tesla, they’re open to experiencing something new now,” he told CNBC on the sidelines of the L.A. Auto Show in November. “We’re very happy about that.”

The German automaker, according to Zellmer, was “surprised” by the initial number of owners from Tesla, which is known for its cult following.

“We were actually surprised right from the get-go to see Tesla be so much in the foreground as a potential source of business,” he said.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

The German automaker, according to Zellmer, was “surprised” by the initial number of owners from Tesla, which is known for its cult following.

And CNBC, which is where that quote is from, is known for their surprisingly strong anti-Tesla bias, which even at times descends into the muck of outright FUD.

The irony is that most or nearly all people calling Tesla fans "cultists" are a lot closer to that description themselves, in how obsessed they are with serial Tesla bashing, as well as obsessively copying and pasting anti-Tesla FUD.

Will the Taycan get a lot of "conquest" sales from Tesla owners? Well, I won't claim that's impossible. But I definitely will wait and see rather than accept the word of Porsche's CEO. The growing anti-Tesla attitude -- perhaps tinged with more than a bit of desperation? -- from German auto makers is becoming more and more obvious over time.

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[interestedinEV]

But I definitely will wait and see rather than accept the word of Porsche's CEO.

Ah, you seem to be coming towards my long stated position of "wait and see". I guess I should not be surprised by the interest from Tesla owners: They are already familiar with BEVs. they may be ready to trade in their older Tesla S/X, Porsche has a cachet that is unmistakable, the cars seem to be comparable. and hence Taycan is worth a second look. However, we have seen the so called "Tesla Killers" come and get killed. The actual product in those cases, which does not match the hype, is underwhelming. So I am still skeptical that many actual conversions will happen, time will provide the answer.