For the exclusive use of T. Song, 2015. 9-714-413 REV: JANUARY 24, 2014 ERIC VAN DEN STEEN Tesla Motors “Tesla is in California, so it is not April Fool’s yet!” tweeted Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, around 10 PM PT on March 31, 2013. “First profitable Q for Tesla thanks to awesome customers & hard work by a super dedicated team”1 he had tweeted a few minutes earlier. And indeed, on May 8, Tesla announced a net income of more than $10mln on $560 mln in sales.2 Tesla had outsold both Nissan and GM in electric cars in the U.S.3 Its Model S had sold more than the BMW 7 and Audi A8 combined.4 Tesla raised its Model S sales target for its first full year from 20,000 to 21,000 cars.5 Over the next three months, its stock price …show more content…
market in 2012, though that was down from 98% in 1969.14 Despite this high concentration, two of the three large U.S. car manufacturers went bankrupt in 2009. Since WWII, no U.S. firm had successfully entered the car industry with a mass-produced car, until (maybe) Tesla. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Eric Van den Steen prepared this case. This case was developed from published sources. Funding for the development of this case was provided by Harvard Business School, and not by the company. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright © 2014 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Tao Song in COMM401 FALL 15 taught by Rajshree Prakash, Concordia University - Canada from September 2015 to March
same time its CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr. (Bronfman) sold their 25% stake in the chemical
800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may
The U.S. electric passenger car industry in 2011 was described as being in its infancy, because it is still a new concept to buyers. However there are signs of growth from 2011-2015. Buyers do not consider the car because of price, travel range and vehicle size, along with other secondary concerns.
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.
Reaching the break-even point, the point where there is no loss or gains in terms of profit, proves that Tesla is setting their business up for success as they will begin to see revenue after hitting this mark (Kimmel, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2009). The only problem Tesla faces is the huge demand for their product with more than 5,000 advanced orders pending fulfillment (Morris, 2012). If Tesla is cannot meet this demand while keeping expenses down yet filling these orders in a timely manner, revenue will be lost as well as credibility and reliability of Telsa to deliver to their customers’ needs.
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.
Tesla Motors is only selling electric cars, and people are still suspicious of electric cars.
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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.
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
Tesla Motors Incorporated, an American company that designs, produces, and sells electric vehicles and their electric components, has become one of the fastest growing car companies in recent history. The company’s main goal was to start creating electric vehicles that were accessible and affordable to the public. Founded in 2003 and taking off successfully by 2009, Tesla Motors started selling the first mass-produced vehicle to use lithium-ion battery cells and hold a range of greater than 200 miles on just one charge. Along with building their own electric vehicle models, Tesla also builds electric powertrain components for vehicles from other automakers including cars such as the Toyota RAV4 electric vehicle. Tesla has begun to maximize
Founded in 2003, Tesla is an electric car manufacture company that started in California, they are considered leader in its category. Tesla electric cars not only outsold Nissan Leaf and GM electric cars in US. Their latest Model S had also outsold BMW 7, Audi 8. Tesla is also targeting SUV consumers with their Model X.
545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be
Professor Robert H. Hayes prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or