Case Study Tesla

As the EV and HEV trend strengthens, key industry players are offering models that directly compete with Tesla. Competing models include the Chevy Volt and Spark, Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius, Ford Focus, Honda Fit, Smart Car, Volkswagen Golf, BMW i3, and Mercedes Benz B-class EV (Grant, 2015). However, Elon Musk does not view these offerings as Tesla’s competition. With only 1% of total vehicle sales going to non-hydrocarbon burning cars, Musk identifies Tesla’s true competition as the gasoline cars with production rates of about 100 million per year (Musk 2014).

Tesla Motors has confronted the market in an entirely unique way for the auto making business. Tesla plans to entirely bypass the dealer by providing vehicles directly to the consumer via the

Electric cars over the last several years have been a controversial topic. Companies have ran into issues regarding the batteries, pricing, and clearly competition with gas fueled vehicles. I noticed Tesla Motors a few years ago and instantly fell in love with their electric vehicles. Tesla managed to keep a very clean look with a sports car feel to their vehicles, and they are currently working on their new battery which is expected to last much longer. The price of their vehicles at the moment are priced higher than most average families can afford, but Tesla announced they are releasing a more affordable vehicle in 2017. Throughout the existence of Tesla they have made it clear they will not settle with just making vehicles that are in compliance with the laws set in place, their company will strive to make the best vehicles they can.

From the last two decades auto industry is growing more competitive. Competition from the foreign automakers like Toyota and Honda is also high. In

Tesla`s current objectives include creating a high demand for electric vehicles which ultimately will raise sales. This will be achieved as more awareness on the harm gasoline emissions cause on the environment is shown, and knowledge on electrical powered cars is gained. Tesla also plans to create customer loyalty with current customers and create customer referrals. Tesla will achieve this by continuing to have regular customer events, such as show rooms which display their new technology.

Opportunity: For the overall electric automotive industry and Tesla, they should improve its financial performance through government incentives to alleviate the problem of carbon emissions from its car models.

The car market has been ran by companies such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, BMW, and many other companies, but one of the newer, up and coming companies in this market is Tesla Motors Inc. Tesla has been around for a little over 10 years, and have come quite a long way from where they began. Tesla now sells luxury electric vehicles different than any other electric vehicles today, and they have big plans for expansion in the future. Tesla may not be one of the biggest car companies today, but one day they will be considered alongside companies such as Toyota and Ford.

Several factors have affected how the American auto industry now positions itself on the world market, and big changes have been made to reflect this new direction. The introduction of new technologies in vehicles, the growing market for cars in new developing markets, the impact of the industry on the environment, legislative responses and demands, as well as the increased expectations from consumers, are some of the factors. More international cars are being designed, manufactured and bought by American consumers and exported to foreign markets today than those exclusively manufactured by American companies, redefining the American auto industry, while having a positive impact on its economy. International brands accounted for 45% of total sales in the U.S. in 2013 and have now risen to 59% of the market, and continue to grow. While the amount of American cars has decreased in the local U.S. market share to international ones, the increase of foreign car production on U.S. soil has had the effect of creating new jobs for Americans both in the auto industry as well as in related new industries. The industry has seen huge growth numbers in the last few years with more growth expected.

This was a new and untapped market and Tesla needs to develop a marketing plan that will allow them to stay ahead and be the sought after brand in electric vehicles. They cannot simply rely on word of mouth like they have been doing in the past.

If we could look at Tesla’s vehicle models and other electric vehicle models stripped down, with everything removed but the frame, wheels, and electrical propulsion system, we would see just how far Tesla has come in their design of the electric vehicle and how they have surpassed other car companies with their innovation. According

We can see that Tesla expanded their product line to target multiple consumers in different price range. The company started with high-end luxury sports car targeting early adaptors. On the second stage, Tesla has introduced Model S sedans that help them pass from difficult line from early adaptors to early majority. Moving forward, Tesla is introducing new Electric Vehicles (EV) cross over and many more affordable EV to target a larger majority. This strategy is helping Tesla move from one stage to the next one. The company is planning to release Model X in summer of 2015 and there are possibilities to introduce more affordable EV in the range of $30,000 dollars to compete with BMW 3 series in the fall of 2015.

Between 2003 and 2013 Tesla was arguably one of the most controversial companies. An innovative company with a breakdown idea, had no financial success in its first decade. With the addition of Elon Musk in 2008, Tesla had a fresh new face at the stern of its company and was poised to make big strides into the future. Those strides finally broke through in 2013 with its first truly positive financial year. However, this year was not without trouble as Tesla found itself in the news for the wrong reasons. On several occasions their Model S design had issues with car fires. Though this did not cause a complete catastrophe, it cased questions to the true safety of their vehicles. Tesla would fight back by arguing the safety of their vehicles saved the drivers lives in addition to unforeseen circumstances that caused the fires. Because of these incidents, investors did get spooked and expectation for the remainder of 2013 and projected 2014 were lowered, yet once again Tesla powered through and had their best year of existence. With these above factors, Tesla is at a true crossroads: do they continue the uphill climb that 2013 presented, or do they falter and fall pretty to its competitors.

In order for Tesla Motors to keep growing now and into the future, it is going to be important to expand their target market to reach more consumers. Expanding the target market to include generation Y (mid-20s to early 40s, middle class working adult), Tesla would be able to utilize their facility, while increasing production. This target market will be pinpointing the young professionals that are looking for an entry level luxury car. We are going to segment the market for our new targets in three categories: eco-friendly consumers, tech savvy and entry level luxury cars.

Over the years, the U. S. auto industry's market has been experiencing fluctuations due to many reasons including: price, quality and foreign competition. General Motors Corporation (GM) which had been the leading car and truck manufacturer had been experiencing declining market share and facing stiff competition from both U.S manufacturers and foreign imports such as the Asian auto producers that included Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The main reason for increased foreign competition was that foreign cars were more fuel efficient, smaller, less expensive, and often more reliable than their American counterparts.

The United States Automotive industry has been dominated by five major auto manufacturers: GM, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, and Honda. As globalization increases the domestic automotive market (GM, Ford, Chrysler) suffers from foreign competitors. Although with high entrance barriers the market suffers little to none from new entries. There are several reasons for this the largest being capital. It takes a lot of capital to obtain manufacturing plants, raw materials, as well as to hire and train employees. PASTEL Analysis