Ford 's A Long Term Debt

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).

Their slogan is, “Burn rubber, not gasoline.” This is extremely beneficial for the company because it gives them a brand image and a concentration, as well as the ability to focus all of their efforts on being the best at electric vehicles. They’ve entirely ignored alternatives like diesel, ethanol, and hybrids. They’ve strayed from the known gas-electric hybrid, and plug-in hybrid to focus on their initial goal; zero-emissions, zero fuel. Competing companies like Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota are famous for the combination car, that can’t be considered a true electric vehicle without the plug-in and charge feature, and by still being partially fuel driven. On top of that, the Tesla Model S uses about half the energy of a Toyota Prius per mile, and achieves double the range. By focusing exclusively on the true electric vehicle, with a mindset that oil could run out one day, Tesla is unique and far ahead of the game.

Tesla Motors was founded during the year of 2003 in silicon valley, with one goal; to create a more sustainable way to power vehicles. Tesla strives to produce high quality electric cars at an affordable price. Tesla produces three models; the model s, the model x and the model 3, a wide price range allows anyone to make the transition from gasoline powered vehicles to electric powered vehicles.

They sell electric vehicles, and electric vehicles only. The most popular car Tesla has released is the Model S, which is a luxury electric sedan that sells for $70,000. The Model S was voted the Motor Trend Car of 2013, and according to Tesla is one of the safest cars ever, but there is one big difference from any other electric car. The battery in each Tesla car is actually made up of thousands of lithium-ion cells, which is different than most electric vehicles. Electricity charges a battery to give the Model S power for a certain period of time, and is similar to a laptop or smartphone. In fact, the company uses lithium-ion batteries just like the type that powers laptops worldwide. This is the key difference between a Tesla electric car and a hybrid, it is all electric and has to be charged, but a car such as a Prius runs partially on gasoline but does not have to be charged. There are a few ways to charge the car. Tesla suggest you get a high power wall charger installed, and there are also supercharging stations across the United States and Canada. When fully charged, the Model S can travel at 55 miles per hour for up to 300 miles. The technology that is put in these cars is so far ahead of the competition; Tesla could very easily be the car company of the future.

The aim and vison of Tesla Motors is to provide in the short run cars which are affordable to the average consumer, it started making first sport cars for the enthusiast for speed and environmental preservation, moving then to the second phase to the large market who choses affordable compacts and sedans which in turn will promote and stimulate the electric car trend.

The Tesla may be a cool car and a fast car, but it is nowhere near environmentally friendly nor is it worth the money due to the buyer breaking even after approximately 45 years after purchasing and driving the car. Many buyers do not do their research and they decide to just buy the car due to it being so called environmentally friendly and fully electric. It however is fully electric but the producers of Tesla do wordplay to hook in buyers and brainwash them into thinking they are helping the environment and saving money which it totally wrong and some even consider it a scam and me as an educated student on this topic would have to agree with those certain individuals due to the tricky word play and false advertising.

People care more and more about environmental issues and the fact that most oil comes from "troublesome" countries also gives Tesla a boost as some country’s economy goes down when there is any anti social situations arising in OPEC nations which results in inflation in various countries.

Tesla Motors was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who financed the company until the Series A round of funding. Both men played active roles in the company 's early development prior to Elon Musk 's involvement. Tesla was founded in 2003 by engineers who had a mission to change the way the we thought of cars, and to convince our world that we can produce an electric car better than gasoline powered cars. In 1888 Nikola Tesla invented the first powertrain for a sports car built around an AC induction motor, which was later patented and inspired the company’s name. The Tesla Roadster was launched in 2008 with speeds of 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds and with a range of 245 miles per hour. (Tesla Motors) Later in 2012 they launched Model S the first premium electric sedan. Robotic manufacturing of the Model S at the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California. Tesla manufactures the Model S in Fremont, California, in an assembly plant formerly operated by NUMMI, a defunct joint venture of Toyota and General Motors, now called Tesla Factory.

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.

Threat of New Entrants: Tesla’s ingenuity in building the most efficient fully-electric cars blows up the competition in amount of range on a single charge (Up to 300 miles). The Ford Focus EV only touts a 100-mile range along with the Nissan Leaf while the Toyota Prius C only has a 50-mile range. (Mangram, 2012, pgs. 300-301). However, there seems to be an influx of competitors out there that can roll with the Tesla such as the Dodge Circuit that has a 200-mile range which will make Tesla sweat a little bit (Mangram, 2012, pg. 300). Then again, Tesla is 100% electric where all other competitors are hybrids (electric and gasoline).

Tesla has become the first automaker to implement a direct sales business model, they don’t rely on middlemen to get their product to the masses, instead they go directly from the factory to the future owners via online sales. The people who are already costumers are satisfied and this makes their user base grow via word of mouth.

Throughout the 20th century, GM, Ford, and Chrysler have held a firm grip on the U.S. car market. GM even was even able to control 50% of the market until about 1980. Ford and Chrysler also did considerable well during that period. However, globalization allowed foreign carmakers to maneuver their way into the U.S. market. Intensified competition then began to threaten the market shares of those leading companies. German companies entered the market with cars like Volkswagen, Daimler, and BMW. They now currently own Porsche and Audi. The Japanese car industry have the luxury of owning cars such as the Honda, Toyota, and Nissan while Koreans have joined the market with

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

Rarity: Tesla Motors is known to have a differentiated product over other firms in the sense that it sells electric based cars. It is the only successfully running electric sports cars in the U.S. At the beginning sales were not enough to sustain the business but tesla motors proved it self after introducing the new model, Tesla Roadster 2. There is only few car manufacturing companies trying to enter this industry which makes Tesla Motors have a competitive advantage.

Tesla Motors Inc. was founded in 2003 by a group of engineers, one of whom is now the current CEO, Elon Musk. The company was founded on the ideals of not having to compromise to drive electric. These vehicles would be “better, quicker and more fun to drive than gasoline cars” (About Tesla). Tesla launched its first car in 2008, the Tesla Roadster. It is known as the first car to use a lithium-ion battery and revealed Tesla’s cutting-edge electric powertrain. Since then, Tesla has been able to expand with the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 (that has just begun production this year). Not only do they build electric cars but have expanded into scalable clean energy generation, storage products, and charging stations.