There is a certain resistance in the automotive industry to accept Tesla as one of them. And not only in the environment of the historic factories, even in some power structures, especially in the United States, where there is still talk of “Detroit’s Big Three” that are no longer the same because Chrysler became part of the fiat group (FCA) first and stellantis now.
Tesla has already begun developing the platform to make a more accessible car
While many predict that the end of the “American dream” of the electric car is near, Elon Musk continues to expand factories and grow in global market share with his products.
Undoubtedly, this is because while Ford, Chevrolet and the same Chrysler they have been around for a while more than 110 yearsTesla was born barely in this century and already advanced towards the first decade, since the first car was presented in the year 2007. There is, therefore, an idea of “lack of experience” in many users, but that, far from being a problem, is probably the best scenario for Elon Musk, because in electric cars the mechanics are only found in suspensions and steering and nothing else, and modern users, not only They don’t know much about mechanics either, they just don’t seem interested in it.
This allowed Tesla has grown to rank 15th in the world among all car manufacturers of all known propulsions, and in first place among those that only produce electric cars. That Tesla has already sold 3.4 million cars in the last five years and that the growth between 2021 and 2022 it has been 47% it cannot be overlooked.
These data also contrast with a drop in production and sales of almost all manufacturers in the last year due to the supply crisis such as latent consequence of the pandemic and indirectly from the war in ukrainewhich further enhances the performance of North American electric cars.
The company that manufactured the most sophisticated solar car went bankrupt and shows a hostile scenario for new ventures
The Lightyear 0 was the car that returned the illusion of using the sun as a source of sustainable energy without comparison. But the numbers did not close and the dream seems to be diluted before it begins. Reality shows that in this industry it is not so easy to be another Tesla
And indeed they have attracted the attention of various actors and forms. Already in 2021, Herbert Diessthen CEO of VW Grouphad expressed admiration for Tesla’s development, even putting it as an example of efficiency in terms of production times. That sympathy of Diess with Musk and taking him as a model to copy, was part of the reasons that led him to have to withdraw from the company in the middle of last year, immersed in an internal crisis in the German group.
Tesla made some unexpected and confusing moves in December 2022, lowering the price of cars for those who bought them before the end of the year, which for many was a clear sign of weakness because, they said, that It showed that they had not met their goals. of sales.
The Sphere series finally showed its latest concept model much closer to a real car
For a year, Audi has been advancing in a concept of futuristic models completely different from its current image. After showing an idea of roadster, sedan and SUV, he finally presented the Activesphere concept, a luxury coupe that can be converted into a pick-up.
But barely started the year and with the first month consumed, Tesla announced that it will reduce the price of its vehicles in the United States and Europe between 5% and 20%, according to the model and the market, but also announced that it will begin to develop the platform for produce a more affordable car which they hope can fetch a price of about $25,000.
So, between discounts and subsidies, a Tesla Model 3 or a Model Y, you can buy almost 30% cheaper than the price of a few months ago. Although for many it is a maneuver that could not end up being a bad strategy, other observers believe that it is the beginning of a counterattack of Elon Musk to a market that is now populated with big new players.
Ford is one of them, and it is probably today the one that presents the greatest battle to Tesla based on the immediate future. To the excellent performance of SUV Ford Mustang Mach-Ethe first global electric vehicle of the oval brand, will arrive the queen of Full Size Pickup, the F-150 Lightningwhich is already out of production for the next two years and is intended to be the product that elevates the brand to a very competitive sales level in the electricity market.
And it is no coincidence that it was precisely Ford that recently made the decision to follow the same path as Tesla in terms of prices, since Ford himself CEO of the company, Jim Farley, announced this week that “At Ford we want electric vehicles to be more accessibleSo we’re increasing Mustang Mach-E production and lowering prices on the entire Mach-E lineup. Scaling will shorten customer wait times. And with increased production, we are reducing costs, allowing us to share these savings with customers.”
Ford’s price reductions are not as significant in percentages compared to Tesla’s, but considering the models and prices of each one, and the state aid in subsidy mode, the Mustang Mach-E could be priced competitively with one Tesla Model Ythe car with which it directly rivals.
However, the expert analyst in the automotive industry sandy munromade an in-depth study of the strengths and weaknesses of both manufacturers, and although he agrees that Ford seems the rival best prepared to face this “provocation” of Teslathey have some reason to think that you will win the bid.
According to Munro, matching supply and demand by price reduction is not within reach for everyone manufacturers, and according to his analysis, manufacturing costs are the key that allows Tesla to reduce its prices significantly while remaining profitable. The study published by Munro & Associates explains that Tesla has a profitability of more than 30% on lower value models, the model 3 and the ModelYand that could be even higher in the most expensive models, where brands can raise the price without losing sales.
With this recipe, Tesla can afford to cut costs and maintain good profits and even superior to those of the competition. And all this is possible because of what Herbert Diess talked about so much, the manufacturing system, which results in lower total costs.
The keys to this achievement are based on combining multiple functions in a single system such as Tesla’s thermal management system; simplify the process replacing a large number of small mechanical parts with a single larger one thanks to large casting machines; develop and produce some systems internally and not contract them to third parties; increase production scale, as in fact they have achieved since Tesla is today the largest manufacturer of electric cars in the world; and finally change the business model to no need for dealers or large campaigns of advertising.
Volkswagen has publicly said that they will not change their pricing schemes sales of their electric cars, something that is completely logical since they still face a delay of almost 3 years with the development of their own digital system, and the rest of the manufacturers have not yet expressed themselves in this regard, with which the battle It seems focused on Ford vs. Tesla or Tesla vs. Ford, which would be something like David against Goliath.
Keep reading
#Ford #Tesla #fight #future #electric #car #industry
