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Tesla Motors Shaken Up, Laying Off
tjstork writes "Tesla Motors, the darling of technorati for its high performance electric car, may be about to go belly up. Venture capital is cut off, layoffs are under way, and construction plans are being stretched out. Elon Musk has ousted the CEO and taken the reins, blaming the global credit crunch."
Tesla Motors struggling doesn't affect millions of Americans.
I work for Honda and I don't want to see GM or Ford go belly up because it would hurt us as well as Toyota. We've already had to deal with numerous suppliers shutting down due to GM/Ford plant closures. A good portion of our suppliers built parts for multiple OEMs. When the bigger ones go belly up, the ripple is felt throughout the supply chain.
GM or Ford going out of business might give us more sales, but considering how many suppliers would shut down, our business would suffer immensely. That doesn't even consider the number of people who lose their job and no longer afford buying the car.
I don't like the bail out, the Detroit automakers had poor vision and now are suffering for it, but it's bad for the industry if they don't survive.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster test drove a Tesla and wrote about it in his blog.
Here is part of what he had to say about:
It's crazy-fast. It handles like a jet fighter. It gets the equivalent of about 140 mpg. It has no gears. It requires almost no maintenance.e It's gorgeous. It's whisper-quiet. And, in Seattle, runs off hydro power.
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
You are correct. However, what we have is not so much a credit crunch as we do a "Truth crunch." Peoples ability to use smoke and mirrors to get credit has dried up in an instant. Those without sound, impressive, and extremely plausable plans are being kicked out in the street. Those with marginal plans are probably taking the gas pipe as well.
People are not buying bullshit anymore. Not because they don't believe the bullshit; they never did. They are not buying it because they can not sell it on to someone else.
Seconded the above. At the time of the dotcom boom my uncle had a new filling machine ready for manufacture. He had orders. He just needed some additional money to build it. He tried banks, VCs, every one he could think of and drew a blank. Yet at the same time VC threw countless money at any proposition that ended '... and its on the internet'.
You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.