F̵r̵a̵c̵t̵u̵r̵e̵d̵ ̵F̵u̵t̵u̵r̵e̵s̵— 🚘 Toyoda & Tesla

5 responses to “F̵r̵a̵c̵t̵u̵r̵e̵d̵ ̵F̵u̵t̵u̵r̵e̵s̵— 🚘 Toyoda & Tesla”

1. 

   jurvetson

   Dec 24, 2020 at 4:06 am

   Sitting in the Model S "Deskla"As they pointed out, it is fairly uncommon for the CEOs of Japanese giants to visit Silicon Valley.

   Perhaps the coolest reception desk ever, a slice of the Model S. You can charge it up and run the USB ports for a loo000ng time. =)

   Reply
2. 

   jurvetson

   Dec 24, 2020 at 3:23 pm

   Then came the Toyota Lexus ad campaign of 2014, stoking fears of EV futures — better to stick with the “proven” path of burning fossil fuels in sub-scale engines with 25% efficiency.

   I wonder if their employees look back at this with pride.

   My 2014 post here

   Reply
3. 

   jurvetson

   Dec 24, 2020 at 3:58 pm

   Interesting historical footnote: when Tesla was fundraising in 2006, pre-Roadster launch, they spent a lot of time on the freedom from dealerships being a key competitive advantage. In contrast, there was no mention or anticipation of autonomous driving or car-sharing models at that time. Understanding the dealer problem was a key factor in our investment decision. Dealership franchise law in America is astounding; it is irrevocable across generations and covers all channels of sale. Some states have extra-judicial "Dealer Courts" to resolve conflicts that might arise. And dealers make most of their profit on service, not new car sales. The EV needs nearly no service. Dealers have a huge disincentive to sell an EV over a gas burner.

   It is possible that Toyoda’s confusion about the popularity of EVs derived from being insulated from the customer by a near universal indirect channel partner with perverse incentives.

   Headline from his month: “About 150 U.S. Cadillac Dealers to Exit Brand, Rather Than Sell Electric Cars” — WSJ

   I transcribed Elon at the 2013 Tesla ASM: “Our philosophy on service is not to make a profit on service. I think that it’s terrible to make a profit on service. [applause] And unfortunately, the way the auto dealer association is set up is that they make most of their profit on service. So, this obviously would not be a good outcome [for them]. Now the challenge we face, of course is that the auto dealers are very strong and influential at the state level among the legislatures.

   But if you look at the opinion polls in any state…in any context, as to whether people want direct sales, the answer is overwhelmingly yes. So, in North Carolina or Texas or obviously in California or nationwide, the percentage of people in favor of allowing Tesla to do direct sales varies from a low of 86% to 99. And in the case of the 86%, there was a concerted attempt by the auto dealers to get everyone they could to possibly vote against it, and it still was 86% in favor. So clearly if democracy was working properly and the legislatures were implementing the will of the people, something else would be happening. And there would not be legislation trying to artificially restrict direct sales.”

   I served on the board of Xtime for this decade, a company that sold service scheduling systems to car dealers. Learned an interesting factoid: over the past century, the largest donor to state political campaigns has been car dealers.

   Reply
4. 

   persiaboy3000

   Dec 24, 2020 at 11:37 pm

   Can you put a post, about new Tesla tequila ?!

   Reply
5. 

   jurvetson

   Jul 27, 2021 at 10:31 pm

   a new summary of Toyota’s bad behavior in Ars Technica

   Reply