RE: Tesla to close showrooms in favour of web

[dilloncallum]

Unfortunately the world is changing and it is inevitable that at some point in the not too distant future, we will all be buying cars ‘online’ without setting foot in a dealership. Who would have thought only a few years ago that someone would not go into a High Street estate agency first before going to buy a house. Now - everyone simply looks on line and then makes probably the single most expensive lifetime purchase without going into the High Street.
Whilst I don’t like it, it is something we will all have to get used to!

[RobDickinson]

78 percent online sales already. 82 percent bought without a test drive.

It's already the future.

[J4CKO]

yonex said:

J4CKO said:

Its a good job that petrol isnt flammable isnt it....

When’s the last time a petrol engine spontaneously combusted? Never happened to me?

It does happen though, saw a Ferrari blazing merrily on the A34 bypass not that long ago, Zafiras tend to and apparently BMWs at the moment.

[Exige77]

RobDickinson said:

78 percent online sales already. 82 percent bought without a test drive.

It's already the future.

It looks like it is for you !!

Are Tesla Paying you for this

[RobDickinson]

Exige77 said:

RobDickinson said:

78 percent online sales already. 82 percent bought without a test drive.

It's already the future.

It looks like it is for you !!

Are Tesla Paying you for this

Just balancing out the it'll never work , it didnt for us crowd.

[sparks_E46]

I’m glad I got out of the motor trade. In a few years, maybe as short as a decade, the need for salesmen and service advisors will be far less necessary.

[Jader1973]

Biggles111 said:

The real PH worthy news here is the overnight drop in the UK price of the S and X. There is a lot of discussion going on between owners as to whether this is real or if someone at Tesla forgot to include VAT, but on the face of it an S 100D ludicrous performance can be had as a custom order for £84,150 (plus cost of autopilot etc) as a custom order, when yesterday it was a £120k+ car.



People have been querying the pricing this morning and have been told it is real; as a result a number of orders have been placed.

If I didn't already own a 100D I'd be placing a deposit! Impact on residuals is not ideal, but if it gets more people into the cars (and if it is honoured by Tesla) it is a good thing long term.

I’ve just read a report on the Australian prices.

P100D with ludicrous mode was A$250k drive away, now down to A$165k driveaway.

That is nuts.

[Exige77]

Jader1973 said:

Biggles111 said:

The real PH worthy news here is the overnight drop in the UK price of the S and X. There is a lot of discussion going on between owners as to whether this is real or if someone at Tesla forgot to include VAT, but on the face of it an S 100D ludicrous performance can be had as a custom order for £84,150 (plus cost of autopilot etc) as a custom order, when yesterday it was a £120k+ car.



People have been querying the pricing this morning and have been told it is real; as a result a number of orders have been placed.

If I didn't already own a 100D I'd be placing a deposit! Impact on residuals is not ideal, but if it gets more people into the cars (and if it is honoured by Tesla) it is a good thing long term.

I’ve just read a report on the Australian prices.

P100D with ludicrous mode was A$250k drive away, now down to A$165k driveaway.

That is nuts.

Maybe they are struggling to hit their numbers ?

Mr Dickinson will have something to say. Huge money mountain, profitable and paying back debt ? Something like that

[soupdragon1]

RobDickinson said:

78 percent online sales already. 82 percent bought without a test drive.

It's already the future.

My last 3 car purchases, 2 were online (lease deals) and 1 was from a showroom.
The showroom purchase came with a bunch of flowers, a thermos coffee flask and a sleeve of golf balls.
Online has a lot of catching up to do

[herebebeasties]

RobDickinson said:

78 percent online sales already. 82 percent bought without a test drive.

It's already the future.

Do you have a source for that? It seems extremely unlikely.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-shopping/how-import... claims that 67% of people thought a test drive was "very important" and https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-resea... claims that only 14% of people don't bother with a test drive. Both are slightly out of date and from the US, but I doubt that much has changed since and that we are that dissimilar.

https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/millennials... claims that even amongst millenials, 96% said it's important to test drive a vehicle before buying. I simply cannot believe that in four years, the figures have swung to 82% of people buying something as expensive as a new car without first test driving it.

Edited by herebebeasties on Monday 4th March 13:18

[greggy50]

I can't believe even on the basic 100d they have dropped the price by £25k +

This is just a smack in the face for any early adaptors who supported the company in the early days.

I don't own one but hope they now fail as a business as the fact consumers would be losing £30k effectively in a week is an utter joke..

[98elise]

J4CKO said:

yonex said:

J4CKO said:

Its a good job that petrol isnt flammable isnt it....

When’s the last time a petrol engine spontaneously combusted? Never happened to me?

It does happen though, saw a Ferrari blazing merrily on the A34 bypass not that long ago, Zafiras tend to and apparently BMWs at the moment.

Lamborghini's get quite toasty on a regular basis. Just reving them while stationary seems to be enough to get a decent fire going.

[soupdragon1]

jjwilde said:

This forum has been predicting Tesla's failure every year for almost 10 years. The goal posts are just moved every time.

This thread has all the usual myths in it too. This time I just can't be bothered to argue. Also not a single person on here has ever shorted Tesla to surely make a small fortune when their stock goes to 0. Amazing that.

So explain to us all why if you know Tesla is going bust you don't short them? Anyone?

Easy money

[RobDickinson]

herebebeasties said:

Do you have a source for that? It seems extremely unlikely.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-shopping/how-import... claims that 67% of people thought a test drive was "very important" and https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-resea... claims that only 14% of people don't bother with a test drive. Both are slightly out of date and from the US, but I doubt that much has changed since and that we are that dissimilar.

https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/millennials... claims that even amongst millenials, 96% said it's important to test drive a vehicle before buying. I simply cannot believe that in four years, the figures have swung to 82% of people buying something as expensive as a new car without first test driving it.

Edited by herebebeasties on Monday 4th March 13:18

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/03/03/78-of-teslas-2018-model-3-sales-were-online-musk-email-sheds-light-on-new-sales-strategy/

[cptsideways]

coyft said:

I wonder how close Tesla are to regulatory approval of a fully autonomous vehicle?

Far nearer than just about anybody else that is for sure, they have gleaned a LOT of real road user data.

[Funk]

Dave Hedgehog said:

I can get the logic behind it, especially if they are marketing after millennials and social media types who have very little knowledge or interest in car brands

I wouldn't have a problem buying a car online, I hate dealers, especially the german marques

I would have a problem with buying a second hand car from them if the process is the same that rich rebuilds went through ... No way to view the car before hand, car had issues and vanished for 3 months before being delivered ...

That was an utter clusterfk wasn't it...! Of all the potential customers to fk up with, they couldn't have done much worse than a highly prominent and well-known YouTuber who already hates the way the company operates despite loving their product. One of the other guys he spoke to hadn't been able to drive his at all because Tesla STILL hadn't delivered the title to him despite him having the car sat in his lock-up!

How will the purchase work now if it's all online? Car delivered to your door by a transporter driver who rolls it backward onto your drive and then leaves? Who takes you through all the features, how to access 'x' or 'y', what 'z' button does etc? With a car as complex as a Tesla I'd hope they have some way to impart all this info to the buyer rather than leaving them to their own devices... I'd find that something of an anti-climax on a very expensive car, not to mention that being able to sit in something and check you're comfy is very important - I've ruled cars out due to the design of the door bin which smacked straight into where my right shin needed to be for example.

I think once the other manufacturers finally get their st together Tesla are toast.

[Some Gump]

LordFlathead said:

Model 3 will be HUGE in the UK for those of us that understand EV's, those of us that own EV's and those of us that want to buy EV's. .

I love the way some of you lot imply that people who choose not to own an EV are somehow inferior, incapable of coming to the obvious conclusions that the enlightened can. I don't own an EV, I don't currently want to buy an EV, does that make me a luddite?

There are loads of cool aspects of EV's. Some of the things on that list make me want one. However, there are downsides. There are compromises. There are risks.
Some poeple don't like risk. Does that make them incapable of understanding a car? What about people who can't compromise as significantly? Those that park on the street, or live in rented accommodation where they can't install a charger? Are they instantly somehow stupider?

I swear sometimes it's like the South Park Prius episode came true...

[RobDickinson]

Some Gump said:

There are loads of cool aspects of EV's. Some of the things on that list make me want one. However, there are downsides. There are compromises. There are risks.

For sure, they are not right for everyone, and early adoptes will be paying a higher price.

[BVB]

Sounds like Tesla will be no more in the not too distant future.

[RobDickinson]

doomed , they are doooomed!!!!!

( 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018,2019....)