Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[HisMajestyBOB]

It could be that Tesla will benefit from a sudden surge in red-state enthusiasts for Musk ready and willing to swap their pick-up-truck for a pricy EV, but if that growth doesn't materialize, Tesla could find itself learning why profoundly alienating your core customer base and badly tarnishing one's brand isn't optimal business strategy.  It's certainly true that there are more viable EV options now than six years ago.

Yeah if Musk makes all Republican voters trade in their Ford F-150s for EVs then Tesla should be fine.

Tariffs on non-Tesla car components will be increased to 10,000%.
All government vehicles will be required to be Teslas.

[Valmy]

Tariffs on non-Tesla car components will be increased to 10,000%.
All government vehicles will be required to be Teslas.

Ok that could work 

[Jacob]

I've leased 2 Tesla Model 3s.  One of the most striking aspects of getting a Tesla was the lack of direct marketing.  They made no effort to sell; we had to come to them.  When the first lease was coming up, Tesla made no attempt to convince us to get a new one; we got routine notices of the lease expiry and that was it.

Now with the second lease is wrapping up this summer, things are very different, Tesla is already aggressively pushing us to get a new one.  It is a significant change in their behavior.

It could be that Tesla will benefit from a sudden surge in red-state enthusiasts for Musk ready and willing to swap their pick-up-truck for a pricy EV, but if that growth doesn't materialize, Tesla could find itself learning why profoundly alienating your core customer base and badly tarnishing one's brand isn't optimal business strategy.  It's certainly true that there are more viable EV options now than six years ago.

I expect Musk is going all in on getting money from the US government to make up for the possible future decline in Tesla value. Maybe it'll be a switch to Space X and related contracts, or maybe it'll be making the Feds buy Teslas whenever it's even remotely feasible.

[dist]

A bit like BB that only worries that buying a Tesla would be seen as a political statement. I'm really surprised one cannot see how not seeing this as a political statement is a political statement in itself: "I'm okay with Elon."

Well the argument would be that buying used doesn't give any money to Elon.

 

Sorry, work has been overly intense this past--checks notes--almost three weeks and I totally missed that you were talking about used vehicles.

That said, I wouldn't even consider buying a second hand Tesla as long as Musk is associated with it. If resale value plummets, people will also stop considering buying new ones.

[Sheilbh]

It could be that Tesla will benefit from a sudden surge in red-state enthusiasts for Musk ready and willing to swap their pick-up-truck for a pricy EV, but if that growth doesn't materialize, Tesla could find itself learning why profoundly alienating your core customer base and badly tarnishing one's brand isn't optimal business strategy.  It's certainly true that there are more viable EV options now than six years ago.

I know there are many, many other issues with Musk - but I do find that red-state enthusiast point maybe kind of positive. Musk might be negatively polarising people who were rolling coal into buying electric vehicles.

I always sort of wondered if in the US the best way to get everyone to take a vaccine would be to get one that was the "Trump shot" for his people and then everyone else could have the rest...

[Grey Fox]

It could be that Tesla will benefit from a sudden surge in red-state enthusiasts for Musk ready and willing to swap their pick-up-truck for a pricy EV, but if that growth doesn't materialize, Tesla could find itself learning why profoundly alienating your core customer base and badly tarnishing one's brand isn't optimal business strategy.  It's certainly true that there are more viable EV options now than six years ago.

I know there are many, many other issues with Musk - but I do find that red-state enthusiast point maybe kind of positive. Musk might be negatively polarising people who were rolling coal into buying electric vehicles.

I always sort of wondered if in the US the best way to get everyone to take a vaccine would be to get one that was the "Trump shot" for his people and then everyone else could have the rest...

Yes. It's already this way. During COVID, Moderna's vaccine was seen as the vaccine Black people should get by Black communities. They didn't trust the Pfizer one.