[blackwasp]

Tesla sold 69,925 units of its electric vehicles in the period July - September 2018. It has outsold Mercedes-Benz, which sold 66,542 units in the same period.

The company has, for the first time, beaten the sales of the German company in the USA. The electric carmaker has also started production of the dual motor Model 3 of which, 5,300 units were made in the last week of Q3 2018.

In the same period, BMW sold 71,697 units, 1,754 more than Tesla. However, Tesla is expected to surpass BMW in Q4 of 2018.

Tesla has also revealed that it delivered 83,500 vehicles worldwide during the period July - September 2018.



Source: Business Insider

Link to the Team-BHP News

[extreme_torque]

Whether you like it or not, electric cars are here to stay and are the future. We are closer to iPhone moment for cars than we think. I for one, I am looking forward to such a future where my car charges using the solar panels on the roof of my house during the weekdays when I am use public transport and then drive for "free" for the weekend. Guilt free driving for the environmentally conscious. More power to Telsa! (Pun very much intended)

[sri_tesla]

Important thing to remember is, the base model 3 price was $49,000 during Q3. They are slowly moving towards short range Model 3 which starts at $35,000. In October they released mid range variant at $45,000 (currently $46,000). $35,000 base model 3 will pull in more people who are buying base luxury cars and camry/accord customers.

Model 3 is succeeding in the environment where sedan sales are declining at rapid pace while SUVs are growing. Model Y SUV in 2020 will be another major seller for Tesla.

[carmayogi]

Without trying to be egotistical, I consider myself quite well educated on the EV world. Pretty much cannot go a day without EV news in the US, thanks to Elon and his Trump-like magnetism to the press!

Tesla's Model 3 is attracting buyers who are trading in cars with an average new-car value of $35000. This includes people replacing BMWs, Mercs, etc as well as those replacing Hondas and Toyotas. The breadth of customers seeking a Tesla is what is amazing. Normally you'd expect a C class Mercedes to steal customers from BMW 3 series or Audi A4. Here the Model 3 is stealing Accord, Civic, Camry, Corolla, 3 series, Audis - everyone. That automatically means that the product is being bought out of want rather than pure number crunching logic.

Tesla also do not sell a car with less than 200 miles/320 km range. All across the US they have a network of fast superchargers. Thus, when compared to, say the recently launched Jaguar i-Pace, they are again in a league of their own. I can drive to Chicago from NYC with a maximum 1 hr extra needed for charging stops because in a petrol car, I'd anyway stop for food, drink, toilet every few hours. No other car can do this, and will not be able to for the next 18 to 36 months, depending on how fast the competition move.

Finally, their partnership with Panasonic means that none of the legacy automakers will be able to catch up with them on battery supply for at least a couple of years. Hyundai Kona/Kia e-Niro production is stuck at low levels due to battery unavailability + the companies intentionally taking it slow to let battery prices drop and aid their profitability.

This is unlike the Apple situation with the iPhone where the competition caught up, and in my opinion are now beating them, within 5-6 years. It might take a decade for Tesla to feel the heat for reasons mentioned above. By then, who knows what the market will be like?

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Model 3 is succeeding in the environment where sedan sales are declining at rapid pace while SUVs are growing. Model Y SUV in 2020 will be another major seller for Tesla.

Further proves that Tesla are gaining customers in a non-traditional or non-rational-buying way. The Model Y will be a chartbuster for sure. Reveal coming March 2019.

[Miyata]

Not at all surprised. In fact this was long time coming - the writings totally were on the wall. Had it not been for production bottleneck issues (either battery or the car models themselves), this moment would have arrived much earlier.

Tesla might soon mean to Americans what Ford once did.

[mail4ajo]

I think the title should have read Tesla delivers more cars to customers than Merc. A lot of these deliveries were customers who were waiting and in most cases asked to step up to a higher version than what they initially selected.

With the 200K units limit being hit and the subsides running out, will see how they maintain the sales and growth rate.

[carmayogi]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

I think the title should have read Tesla delivers more cars to customers than Merc. A lot of these deliveries were customers who were waiting and in most cases asked to step up to a higher version than what they initially selected.

With the 200K units limit being hit and the subsides running out, will see how they maintain the sales and growth rate.

With improved economy of scale, the 35k model will become a reality by March. Furthermore, they have EU and Asia deliveries to keep the plant busy for a while. I'd agree that the title should be delivers rather than 'sells'. That being said, I don't expect Model 3 numbers to drop for at least 18 months - there is that much demand and no viable competitor coming any time soon.

It may be unfair to faithful reservation holders who have been waiting for the $35k version, but it does make business sense for them to fulfill all their higher value orders first as that was the financial state of the company. With future models, they will probably have a better chance of delivering all models at once rather than high>medium>low.

[sgiitk]

The future is here. What I have been saying about the automotive industry is coming true even faster than I expected. I only hope we set up the infra to support the EVs. Servicing is not required as much, but charging stations etc definitely are. We also require some 'get me home' infrastructure. I expect far more EVs running out of 'juice' than modern vehicle running out of fuel. Maybe we need some 'boost charging' systems.

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Important thing to remember is, the base model 3 price was $49,000 during Q3. They are slowly moving towards short range Model 3 which starts at $35,000. In October they released mid range variant at $45,000 (currently $46,000). $35,000 base model 3 will pull in more people who are buying base luxury cars and camry/accord customers.

Model 3 is succeeding in the environment where sedan sales are declining at rapid pace while SUVs are growing. Model Y SUV in 2020 will be another major seller for Tesla.

Remember Fuel costs are near zilch for EVs. As mentioned solar charging will bring it down to even nearer zero, but the panels will cost money. However, I wonder what will they do for Multi-storeys here.

Also, maintenance is also far less. I do not think it will be zero but near zero.

[srishiva]

The thing I have seen with Teslas at least among the people I know is that they are never the only car people own (Based on my personal experience). It still needs to come out of this position and be the only car that one would buy. This is true about other EVs too. Most people who own premium cars will anyway always have a beat car. This is something that will not grow a market in the Indian context.