Thread

1. bpodgursky · 1790746032 · focus · HN ↗

   I'm not convinced Tesla's schizophrenic strategy is any worse than the strategy of the legacy American automakers, which is to sleepwalk directly into a volcano (when Chinese EV manufactures break into the market with $10k SUVs)

   1. lnsru · 1790747077 · focus · HN ↗

      Elon gambled with cybertruck and didn’t won. The winning strategy was to outcompete Chinese with smaller affordable vehicle. I would call it common sense strategy after all.

      1. riffraff · 1790747291 · focus · HN ↗

         The cybertruck was a disaster but I think the main issue is they didn't do any new model after that for almost a decade.

         Also, Musk getting into politics and alienating most of its consumer base, of course.

         1. calgoo · 1790747669 · focus · HN ↗

            That last part is a big thing, especially in Europe where a lot of their sales have almost stopped as no one wants to drive a nazi car.

            1. DaSHacka · 1790748163 · focus · HN ↗

               AfD seems to be doing a little too well across the sea for me to believe that

               1. skissane · 1790748503 · focus · HN ↗

                  Musk’s problem is that the intersection of “votes AfD” and “willing and able to buy premium electric vehicle” is relatively small
               2. 05hundred · 1790748699 · focus · HN ↗

                  Problem is, AfD voters also don't want to drive Teslas (not because they disagree with Elon's politics, but because "only hippies drive EVs, patriots drive real cars".)

                  1. [deleted] · 1790751712 · focus · HN ↗

                     [deleted]

               3. culi · 1790749479 · focus · HN ↗

                  They might see a rebound from last year which was a bad year for them but that's likely driven by some pretty aggressive price cuts.

                  China is actually nearly 3x bigger market for them than Europe and we have clearer numbers on how that's going:

                    2019:  45,372
                    2020: 137,459
                    2021: 320,743
                    2022: 439,770
                    2023: 603,664
                    2024: 657,102
                    2025: 625,698
                  

                  2026 so far has been shaping up to be a huge contraction. Only 316,251 were shipped in the first 8 months. (BYD sold 440k units in August alone)
               4. wodenokoto · 1790774629 · focus · HN ↗

                  Tesla has managed to alienate the entire left wing while not enticing the right wing.
            2. sippingabonedry · 1790748466 · focus · HN ↗

               > as no one wants to drive a nazi car

               Volkswagen had €322 billion in revenue last year and was literally in every way founded by the Nazi party.

               The requirement for the air-cooled engine in the Beetle came from none other than Mr. Stubby Mustache himself.

               1. zelphirkalt · 1790749455 · focus · HN ↗

                  With a small difference of some 90y or whenever VW was founded between that and now, while Musk is doing Hitler salutes in recent years. Other than that, your argument would make sense.
               2. __m · 1790749631 · focus · HN ↗

                  the nazi party doesn't exist anymore and their ceo doesn't do nazi salutes
            3. mbushey · 1790789764 · focus · HN ↗

               > no one wants to drive a nazi car. That explains why VW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, and BMW are doing so poorly. You know, those companies actually founded by Hitler. First rule of advertising is claim your week points are your strong points, and the first rule of politicizing is blame everyone else for what you are guilty of.
         2. zobzu · 1790747696 · focus · HN ↗

            the only mistake was politics.

            1. danny_codes · 1790781856 · focus · HN ↗

               Their original strategy to make a mass market Model 2 after Model 3 was good. 8 years ago I was eagerly awaiting its release.

               Then sometime around when the Ketamine began flowing the plan seems to have changed.

               So I would add ketamine to politics.

               What’s weird about all this is that the democrats were pretty pro-Tesla / pro-SpaceX before Elon Ketamized the Fed. And the democratic platform would have improved industrial policy via-a-vis renewables.

               We can only conclude that the Ketamine haze addled his brain and he simply ignores the advice of those around him.

               That a common failure mode

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