Tesla Motors : Will Sparks Fly During The Automobile Industry?

Two parameters define Tesla’s industry competitive environment: what Tesla is today and what Tesla hopes to become in the near future. Today Tesla delivers an EV in the high-end luxury market ($70k+), but plans to deliver an affordable ($35K) small sized sedan in the next few years (Kaufman, 2015). The differences between Tesla’s current and future plans affect the threats and opportunities for potential entrants, industry competitors, and buyers in the near term and long term.

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`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.

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.

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.

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.

We design, develop, manufacture and sell high-performance fully electric vehicles and advanced electric vehicle powertrain components. We have established our own network of sales and service centers and Supercharger stations globally thus creating a unique business model in the automobile industry. We

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

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.

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.

One of the main political factors facing Tesla in the US are the incentives offered by different states and cities to Tesla owners. They must co-ordinate with these policy makers and inform the consumer. In China, the key political factor is that “the Chinese government wants to put around 5 million electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles on its roads by 2020, but to date reports have confirmed that there are a mere 70,000 electric vehicles plying on China’s roads. In order to promote EV sales, the government has set a target that 30% of government vehicles purchased by 2016 should be EVs. To reach the target set for 2020, the Chinese government is ready to fund nearly $16 billion to build electric charging stations. To further promote EVs among Chinese car buyers, the government is looking to impose a new tax on gasoline engines and has renewed the private-buyer subsidies for electric-powered vehicles for another three years.” (GuruFocus. 2014.

How can Tesla Motors continue to sustain its competitive advantage in not only the electric vehicle industry but also as a leader in sustainable lifestyle?

BMW is one of the most widely know luxury class car manufacturers in the world. They have great branding strategy and technology but the entrance of Japanese manufacturers in the U.S. auto market creates a problem for BMW. Japanese companies have luxury cars that are lower in price and maintenance and they have the technology to compete with these German vehicles.