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Tesla Says Model 3 Had 'Biggest One-Week Launch of Any Product Ever' (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Tesla announced Thursday that it has received 325,000 preorders for its recently unveiled Model 3. If it sells every car that's been reserved, the company says it will earn enough revenue to make this the "biggest one-week launch of any product ever." A few days ago, the electric car company was saying it had received twice the number of preorders it originally expected to get. Now it's quickly approaching three times that number, which raises questions about the company's ability to meet its increasingly complex production goals. If it can, it stands to make a boatload of money. Tesla says the number of preorders it has received so far corresponds to $14 billion in implied future sales.
there are only 15 million cars sold in the USA every year. figure the dozens of models out there and this was a great launch
There are a lot of reasons to put the deposit down:
1. Low risk - fully refundable until actually placing configured order. The only risk is Tesla going under.
2. Early Model 3 car still qualify for up to $7,500 US government tax credit. After Tesla has produced 200K cars for US market (including all Model S and X) the rebate drops off fast.
3. With this strong demand, those who put the deposit down will get their cars up to 2 years earlier. First releases of a new model car tend to hold higher residuals as there are no older alternatives.
4. Some may hope to speculate, buy an early car and sell it for profit to those who will pay an extra couple of thousand for not waiting 2 years for the new, trendy car. Once the $7.5K rebate drops off, that's an extra $7.5K value for the person who did get it and is reselling the car to those who can no longer get it.
So, rather that collect 0.25% in a savings account, place a $1000 deposit, with low risk, but lots of potential upside. Why do people think that's crazy?
Refundable until the car goes into production.
By the time the car goes into production it will not be sight unseen. There will have been opportunities for test drives just like with the last two Tesla vehicles. I put down my deposit because in the worst case scenario I have $1000 in a non-interest bearing account for a couple years, and in a best case scenario I will likely be part of the last Tesla buyers who get Federal tax credits.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
In 10 years we'll laugh at these impatient people who couldn't wait a year to get the same car at a steep discount. Like Apple line people, Cabbage Patch line people, Tickle Me Elmo line people, etc.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Don't forget that after the USA cars have been delivered, the rest of the world gets it. And they have different tax rules. And after that, if noone is in the queue anymore because all orders stop today, *then* you might get one. Might.
For tax reasons, I'm putting down $1000. That's a bit less in euro's and it provides me with a chance at a company car in my own company, that has no additional "car tax" of 60%, that has a very low "road use tax", that has (due to environmental taxes) just a third of the fuel cost of my current Prius, that will come with a tax rebate of 25% in addition to the other stuff. Oh, and maintenance cost are near zero. And if I drive it as a business car, it will only count towards personal income with 4% of the car's original value as opposed to 25% for regular cars.
So, I'm putting down $1000 dollar which in the worst case I will get just back (Tesla isn't going to go bankrupt when they can get a loan based on 14 billion dollar worth of pre-orders) without interest. In the best case I get what looks like the best car on the planet (*) for half the price of a regular car. That's not a bad opportunity cost at all.
(*) I used to drive a Mercedes when I worked for the company - the model S is a MUCH better car than the Mercedes S-class and Tesla is also much better for its customers.
Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
I understand your analogy, but in what way do you think this model will be shit? The specs already look much better than top of the line cars. Compared to the S, it's shorter. But most of the features of an S will still be on it.
Tesla doesn't have to do the regular "screw the customer" dance that I hated so much when working at Mercedes. They don't have to intentionally make a cheaper car less luxurious in order to justify the overpriced "luxury model". They don't have to avoid putting in a navigation so you have to put down $8000,- for the integrated navigation that's worse than the $100 garmin you buy in the store. They don't have to worry about cannibalizing sales of the model S and model X. Tesla can just sell the model 3 and make it as good as they possibly can, and become a huge car maker in the process because the competition is scared to match it.
The only company with a chance of catching up is Chevrolet and if you look at the Bolt you see the same attitude: it's intentionally made worse than it could be to avoid hitting the sales of their other cars. So if you base your attitude on the long standing practice of other carmakers I understand that. But Tesla is just not in the same position, and has a different strategy. So to assume the model 3 will be any less than the model S except in range and size is an assumption I don't share.
Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)