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Comment by jsprogrammer | Hacker News Reader

>You know why Ford turns a profit? Because they've gotten those economies of scale.

Ford was immediately profitable, was it not? Even before implementing an assembly line?

When ford came on the market, it only had to be better than a horse. A tesla has to be better than a masarati on the high end, a jaguar on the "medium" end, and a subaru on the "low" end.

Love it. Presented the crux of their business challenge in a very succinct fashion.

That's not true. Other automakers existed before Ford; he had automotive competition.

In what world is a Jaguar a "medium" end car? The high end Jaguars extend into Maserati territory.

If Tesla wants to be better than a Maserati or Jaguar, they need to observe how much nicer the interiors of those cars are. Consumer Reports doesn't care about that above a certain level of basic competence, but a Maserati or Jaguar buyer does.

> If Tesla wants to be better than a Maserati or Jaguar, they need to observe how much nicer the interiors of those cars are.

Indeed. I was shocked when I first hitched a ride in a Model S – the interior is more spartan and cramped than that of a 90s Japanese keicar (an impressive feat, in a sense) apart from the entertainment system, which had an uglier, clunkier UI than what any web developer could have drawn you up in a week.

The sales rep's "oh don't worry about battery replacement cycles, nobody keeps a car for longer than five years anyway" statement was only the final nail in the coffin.

That's his sales market. Tesla wants fanboy buyers who will be upgrading within five years and that's not a bad thing. They are such a small player that they can do this. I used to lease SUVs on 2-year lease. They had massive incentives and very high residuals because the manufacturers realize they can sell you 5 cars every decade if you are loyal. I did it because the savings were awesome, but I eventually stopped because I got sick of shopping for a new car every two years.

Doesn't seem eco-friendly or world changing but more consumerist to me, can the batteries be recycled then?

Note: I'd still like to believe in Tesla's world improving ambitions

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying it cost less to lease 5 cars over a 10-year period than to buy one and hold it?

Not at all, but it was incredibly affordable considering that in 10 years I never had a car older than 2 years. There is zero maintenance other than a few oil changes. Like I said, the residuals were usually so high that the buy-out was not realistic. That kept the lease rate very low and made it unthinkable to keep it at the end.

> Tesla wants fanboy buyers who will be upgrading within five years and that's not a bad thing. They are such a small player that they can do this.

I mean, sure, but you have to be awfully fanatical to put up with just how uncomfortable the cars are right now.

They also had to be better than all the other competitors. There are hundreds of manufacturers from the early days that no longer exist:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_automobile_man...

They also weren't competing against several companies that already had an assembly line.

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