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3 survey underlines Tesla’s mass market challenge","model-3-survey-underlines-teslas-mass-market-challenge","article/model-3-survey-underlines-teslas-mass-market-challenge",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":683,"featured":50,"reporter":684,"_editable":688,"component":689,"seo_title":553,"categories":690,"visibility":697,"author_company":49,"featured_image":698,"seo_description":683,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":703,"formattedArticleDate":704},"d5550d07-a3cf-4846-bbd9-c068bdd8161b","2017-04-19 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"tesla","Tesla",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":570},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,583,588,593,598,603,608,613,618,623,628,633,638,643,648,653,660,665,670,675,680],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580],{"text":581,"type":582},"Edward Niedermeyer","text",{"type":577,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":582},"They waited for reservations… but will they also wait for service? Much of the critical coverage of Tesla Motors has focused on issues that Tesla is able to get away with as a small-volume manufacturer serving an affluent, early-adopter market segment.",{"type":577,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":582},"From manufacturing bottlenecks to quality control problems, from inconsistent, hype-happy communication to poor service, Tesla has been able to weather a storm of problems because its customers and fans are so patient with and passionate about the company.",{"type":577,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":582},"But as Tesla moves from expensive, low-volume cars to the mass market Model 3 these problems are taking on a new significance. In part this is because higher volumes increase the likelihood of quality and service problems, and in part it is because mass market customers who depend on a single car for their daily routine are more demanding than luxury car buyers who can always take the Lexus to work if their Tesla is broken.",{"type":577,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":582},"Given Tesla’s pattern of releasing cars with insufficient testing as well as its chronic quality problems, it’s safe to assume that the Model 3 will face its fair share of issues. Thus, investing in service infrastructure that will allow Tesla to promptly and affordably repair and upgrade high volumes of Model 3 is extremely important.",{"type":577,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":582},"Tesla is behind the curve on those investments and it will cost billions to catch up.",{"type":577,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":582},"In Q1, a piece by former Tesla employee Evan Niu dramatically illustrated just how far Tesla has to go to improve its service time, which has dragged on for 8 long months in Niu’s case. Now an exclusive study of about 800 Tesla Model 3 reservation holders, EV owners and luxury brand car owners conducted last year on behalf of a major automaker and provided to Daily Kanban by an industry source, reveals why Tesla’s quality and service woes are so critical to the success or failure of the Model 3.",{"type":577,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":582},"Given how new the Tesla brand is and how little experience it has in the mass market, this survey provides an important first look at the people who put down $1,000 refundable deposits for Tesla’s Model 3.",{"type":577,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":582},"Surprisingly, Tesla’s new batch of potential customers turn out to be predominantly “average joes” who own mainstream cars like the Toyota Camry, rather than existing electric car or luxury car owners. This represents a sharp contrast from Tesla’s existing business: the Model 3 reservation holders polled are more than twice as likely to own a Toyota as any other brand, whereas current Tesla owners are four times as likely to own a BMW than any other brand.",{"type":577,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"text":627,"type":582},"Similarly, Model 3 reservation holders area most likely to purchase or lease a Toyota in the next 12 months if a Tesla Model 3 is not available. This appears to be tied to income levels: only 37% of Model 3 reservation holders made over $100,000 in household income in 2015, compared to 63% of BMW owners.",{"type":577,"attrs":629,"content":630},{"textAlign":49},[631],{"text":632,"type":582},"Moreover, a significant portion of Model 3 reservation holders report a household annual income of between $25,000 and $49,000 in 2015, whereas no BMW owners reported earning less than $50,000 in 2015.",{"type":577,"attrs":634,"content":635},{"textAlign":49},[636],{"text":637,"type":582},"Tesla Model 3 reservation holders may be very different from existing Tesla or other luxury brand customers, but the things that attract them to the Model 3 will be familiar to existing Tesla watchers, owners and fans.",{"type":577,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":582},"Tesla’s traditional brand values of attractive design, free supercharging (the survey was conducted before Tesla announced that Model 3 would not enjoy free Supercharger access), high-speed performance and cutting edge technology are rated as the top reasons for placing deposits on the Model 3, followed closely by the brand halo provided by Elon Musk’s fame, the excitement around Tesla launch events and Tesla’s popularity with Hollywood celebrities.",{"type":577,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":582},"Tesla owners and Model 3 reservation holders rated Musk’s status as a technology sector icon especially high as a factor in their decision to order or purchase a Tesla, suggesting that competitors might struggle to outsell the Model 3 even if their “electric vehicles match or even beat the Model 3 on key features or benefits.”",{"type":577,"attrs":649,"content":650},{"textAlign":49},[651],{"text":652,"type":582},"Nor does Tesla’s lack of profitability dissuade Model 3 reservation holders; in fact, about half of Tesla owners and Model 3 reservation holders are unaware that Tesla is not profitable, and three quarters of Model 3 reservation holders say that this lack of profitability actually makes them more likely to purchase a Model 3.",{"type":654,"attrs":655,"content":657},"heading",{"level":656,"textAlign":49},3,[658],{"text":659,"type":582},"Tesla’s new consumer",{"type":577,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":582},"This sets up a fascinating mismatch of values among Model 3 reservation holders. On the one hand, they tend to have lower incomes than buyers of other luxury car brands and as a result they tend to own extremely pragmatic mass-market vehicles like the Toyota Camry, while on the other hand they are clearly attracted to the aspirational, status-conferring attributes of the Tesla brand.",{"type":577,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668],{"text":669,"type":582},"Cars like the Toyota Camry are seen as an extremely rational choice, known for its quality and reliability rather than its performance or prestige, and yet the Model 3 reservation holders who have overwhelmingly purchased such vehicles in the past are now attracted to the Tesla brand for predominantly emotional reasons.",{"type":577,"attrs":671,"content":672},{"textAlign":49},[673],{"text":674,"type":582},"The fact that these potential customers have made such pragmatic vehicle purchases in the past and yet are far more likely to purchase a Tesla because the company does not turn a profit points to the deeply irrational appeal at the heart of the Tesla brand.",{"type":577,"attrs":676,"content":677},{"textAlign":49},[678],{"text":679,"type":582},"People are not putting down deposits because they want an electric car and the Model 3 is just the best option out there, people are putting down deposits because they want to enjoy the status-conferring halo of the Tesla brand. This kind of powerful emotional brand appeal has been fundamental to major market shifts in the auto industry’s past, most notably when Alfred Sloan’s “brand ladder” strategy propelled General Motors past Ford’s dominant market position in the commodified market it created with the Model T.",{"type":577,"attrs":681,"content":682},{"textAlign":49},[],"Edward Niedermeyer They waited for reservations… but will they also wait for service? Much of the critical coverage of Tesla Motors has focused on issues that Tesla is able to get away with as a small-volume manufacturer serving an affluent, early-adopter market segment. From manufacturing bottlenecks to quality control problems, from inconsistent, hype-happy communication to […]",[685],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":686},{"job_title":568,"image":687,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"d5550d07-a3cf-4846-bbd9-c068bdd8161b\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[691,694],{"slug":692,"name":693},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":695,"name":696},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":699,"name":699,"focus":699,"title":699,"source":699,"filename":700,"copyright":699,"fieldtype":701,"meta_data":702,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7bc3f75443/bm-tesla-model-3-sketch.jpg","asset",{"alt":699,"title":699,"source":699,"copyright":699},"Apr 19, 2017","19th April 2017",[],[],1792756402201]