Tesla Announces Another Delay for Model X

 

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Tesla Motors is an electric car company based in California.  Tesla is most known for its electric sports cars, which are high performance and industry leaders in miles per charge.  While Tesla’s sports cars have been successful, the company wants to expand to the SUV/sports crossover market.  The Model X is Tesla’s attempt to enter said markets.  The Model X is fully electric crossover (between and sedan and a SUV) with a four-wheel drive system.  The Model X would allow drivers to use their electric cars in the winter unlike Tesla’s sports cars.  (Berman)

Whether or not this is a good idea for Tesla is somewhat irrelevant at this point.  Tesla initially revealed its plans for production of the Model X in February 2012, claiming production would take place close to a year later.  However, it is now 2013, and production of the Model X is still yet to begin.   It is now said that the Model X will officially begin production in 2014.  Naturally, many consumers are skeptical as to why production of the Model X is delayed. (Berman)  Shanna Hendricks, a spokeswoman for Tesla said:

“I almost have trouble calling this a delay in Model X, because that makes it sound like we’ve run into problems with Model X, and it’s taking longer than we thought, and it’s out of our control,” She then wrote wrote. “When, really, we’re consciously pushing back timing to allow ourselves to focus on its production and product enhancements in Model S (one of Tesla’s sports cars).”   (Berman)

While Hendricks claims that production has purposefully taken longer than expected, many are skeptical because Telsa had delays when releasing both of its sports cars as well.  Normally this wouldn’t be a huge deal, but Tesla requires a $5,000 initial deposit for the very basic Model X and a $40,000 deposit for the signature Model x (not including down payment).  (Berman)

With this kind of money at stake, is it a good idea for Tesla to delay production on purpose?

 

 

Works Cited

Berman, Bradely. Tesla Model X Production Won’t Start Until Late 2014. 12 March 2013. 20 May 2013 <http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/tesla-model-x-production-wont-start-until-late-2014/>.

 

 

3 thoughts on “Tesla Announces Another Delay for Model X

  1. In my opinion, I think Tesla is doing the right thing. Being a big company like Tesla, you want to get everything right the first time around. The backlash would not be even comparable to what it is getting now. In addition, the cost of recalls if they rushed production and created some faults in the cars would be enormous. I think it is important to take the necessary time, even if it means delaying and angering some customers.

  2. I think that Tesla is losing money by consistently pushing back the release of this model. They have to pour more money into research and development while they are not making it back with their sports cars. Tesla, as a whole, is a new company with a new concept. If they consistently have to wait on the release, it frustrates the customers as well and will force them to be even more critical of the vehicle. It does make sense to push back the release so that they do not have a mass recall and customer complaints. They have resembled Boeing and their decision-making with the release of their new line of airplanes. I feel like they should set a date and meet that date.

  3. I completely understand jstevenson’s argument about how customers that are ready/willing to buy keep having to wait, but at the same time I’d much rather wait and get the perfect product. If it’s true that Tesla is simply pushing productions back so that they can get more done with the other model, then I support them in this decision. Especially because Tesla is so new to the market, it is vital for them to get it right.

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