this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2024
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Tesla

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Musk’s behavior may be contributing to Tesla’s declining sales.

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Points out the obvious

Journalism.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

That has literally always been journalism. Finding the obvious and talking about it is how details are given. And sometimes, in the course of talking about obvious things, small details are discovered that help make the obvious more predictable. Talking about the obvious shit is how things get done.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 7 months ago (5 children)

I think another issue is that Tesla isn't seen as an innovator in the EV market or even the automotive industry as a whole anymore. There's also the production quality issues. Musk doesn't seem to be spending enough attention on solving even these issues over the years.

If the Tesla Semi-Trucks fail (and I think that they probably will fail after the initial orders are met) Tesla is going to have a serious problem if Musk remains at the helm and at least the big investors are probably thinking the same thing. It'll just be another Cybertruck fiasco.

I suppose it could also be argued that Musk tends to say things that may alienate his demographic while embracing those that are more likely to want to drive rolling coal modded trucks but I think that's just a smaller piece to the bigger problem. Another piece is probably that people are starting to see that he isn't some genius.

tldr;
The big problem, I think, is that people just don't trust Tesla and they don't want to pay a premium for shit quality EVs that have nothing to really write home about versus the competition and Musk just doesn't seem to be trying to put a lot of energy into solving that.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You're paying Mercedes prices for Lada tier QA.

And with every brand in Europe and Asia now having quality EV models going the whole spectrum of sizes, Teslas just don't compete by anything other than its name anymore. And with better long term respected brands being available as EVs and Musk taking Teslas reputation down with him, only die hard Musk simps will still buy Tesla.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

I'll soon be in the market for an EV, and I wish what you're saying we're true.

Other brands are more expensive, and their base price can barely compete with a tesla, but their options pricing is ridiculous.

There's LOTS of teslas where I live because it's the best bang for your buck right now as far as EV comes.

I dislike Musk as much as anyone else around here, but the companies he fronts have met lots of success, I guess because there are lots of very competent people actually running them (i.e. Gwynne Shotwell for SpaceX)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (2 children)

If I want to buy an EV that might have reliability and QC issues Ill buy a chinese one for 1/3 of the price.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Look up "tofu dregs" and see what issues Chinese EVs are having. I wouldn't wanna park near one.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

From what I hear, the Chinese now build EV cars with far fewer QC issues than Tesla...

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They certainly have plenty of lofty ambitions but have spectacularly failed to deliver on any of them ever since the Model Y launch. It's fair to assume that a lot of that is due to the CEO piddling away his time in idiotic culture wars rather than do his actual job. Having said that, I think at this point Musk's brain has completely turned to mush from all the drugs, so even if he tried, he wouldn't be much use.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I don’t think it’s the drugs. I don’t think they help, but I know intelligent and wise drug users. I think the problem is much more social. He wasn’t good at people before becoming rich and became so wealthy he doesn’t need to if he shuts up, but he like most members of our species does have a psychological need to be liked by others, add in social media addiction and confirmation bias and you’ve got him going the way of notch.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Almoat every car maker out there makes constant changes to their products, releasing new editions or overhauls of existing cars year over year. Some smaller car companies, like luxury or hyper car makers, may take a few years between new models. Tesla is the only car company that is using the same hardware and designs from over a decade ago. Phones have evolved more than Tesla designs, and that shit hasn't significantly changed since touchscreens emerged.

And that's just their cars. Electrical systems like solar tiles and on-site battery systems are the same as when they were released, with the exception of Power Wall getting a lateral update between Power wall 2 and 3.

Tesla is devoid of innovation and has given up on QA to sell as much as they can before the company is considered obsolete and irrelevant.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 7 months ago (1 children)

He might've been able to get away with the behavior 10 years ago when Tesla ruled the EV market. Now they have growing competition with better build quality and (subjectively) better styling.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Damn that rivian looks nice.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I think the front end is a little goofy, a bit too 90s Macintosh. The back end is a work of boxy art. It's giving MkII GTi and every EV company should be bringing back 70s, 80s, and 90s glory like this.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I would really like the updated/electrified iconic Volkswagen minivan.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 7 months ago (8 children)

I know an ex-tesla engineer, they said to never buy one, and they bought a BMW themselves

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I wouldn't buy a BMW either.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Do you have to take lessons on how to park like an asshole before you're allowed to drive one?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Yeah that's fair, but I guess their willingness to go with a finiky German car over a Tesla was an interesting indicator of just how much they didn't think of the Tesla

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Tesla used to be my dream car.

Now I wouldn't drive one even if it was given for free.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

I'd drive one for free, but I'd have to put a bunch of lefty bumper stickers on to make it clear I don't support Musk.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Thanks Internet Explorer. We realized this about the same time he started nuking Twitter. Nobody wants to be associated with a megalomaniac besides aspiring ones.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago

Hey now, as an aspiring megalomaniac even I don't want to be associated with him.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 7 months ago

I was EV shopping five years ago and I chose not to buy a Tesla because the company was too new, wanted to go with a more established company. Now I wouldn't buy one because of him. So as far as this individual potential consumer goes, yep.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Tesla used to be a status symbol now it's just a joke. I wouldn't be caught dead in one.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It's still a status symbol, it's the meaning of that symbol that's changed. Used to be cool, now it means you support a man-child that dead names his own trans kid.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, but also support green (ish) transportation. The intersection of people who believe in global warming and are anti LGBTQ+ rights is a small ass market for Tesla.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Electric cars aren't saving the planet, they're saving the auto industry and preventing us from getting actual public transportation.

Plus look at the micro plastics from their tires from those heavy pieces of shit.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I just said people that are superficially eco-conscious enough to buy an electric car aren't usually anti LGBTQ+.

I agree, electric cars aren't the solution.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Hey, I love having my priors confirmed as much as the next guy but there's plenty of reasons why Tesla Sales have slowed more than expected last month

Elon's conduct might have had something to do with it but, unless sentiment towards him has changed drastically in the last month, since that's when we saw fewer sales than unusual, it doesn't seem likely that consumer sentiment had a lot to do with this

Consumer behavior is complicated and most people who aren't very online (ie. Most people) aren't constantly consuming Elon Musk rage bait and so don't care much

This and all the other articles like it are ignoring those two facts because it Feels True™️ and they know Elon Musk rage bait gets clicks

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'm not following this stuff too closely but didn't some other manufacturer just come out with electric sales numbers that are way better?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

They're being outsold by at least one of the Chinese companies now. Ford has a lot of those mustang abominations that they're going to have to dump soon since they haven't been able to sell them, so they may overtake them for a quarter when that happens.

Edit: BYD is the Chinese company, who actually have a higher market cap than Tesla now as well (590b vs. 527b).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Absolutely. I think a big factor in the drop of demand last quarter was the end of the full $7,500 tax credit.

Since August last year there has been this doom and gloom coverage of electric car sales in the media. That may be making potential buyers get concerned about purchasing an EV at this moment. Self fulfilling prophecy.

Elon’s behavior is definitely playing a role as well. I think that at the end of the day he is just trying to cater to conservatives to expand the consumer base. But the plan is backfiring by alienating progressives and not converting conservatives into consumers.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

There are plenty of external factors but Musk's behavior certainly plays a part. The target audience of EVs (at least in the West) ist still predominately "liberal" (whatever that means) people who will not be very impressed by his amplifying some of the most vile people on earth.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago

I mean we all know that car company CEOs are assholes so why, as a liberal, buy a car from a CEO who's an asshole among with being a openly racist, openly white supremacist, openly conspirator theorist and whose tech isn't cutting edge anymore?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

They are using present tense...they should be using past tense

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

He used to. He still does, but he used to, too.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Is this surprising? Aren’t the fundamentals for the stock completely insane? Asking as a layman who isn’t much of an investor to begin with.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago
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