Tesla’s in a spot of bother. Its sales across Europe have dropped and profits have taken an even more vertiginous slump.
Adding to its woes was the recent news that it was forced to issue its eighth (yes, you read that right) recall of its cubist Cybertruck, this time to remedy its propensity for shedding stainless steel bodywork.
So what’s going on? If you look at many of the headlines, the finger points directly at the company’s controversialist CEO, Elon Musk.
His appetite for attracting attention of the wrong kind certainly hasn’t helped lure customers into showrooms – although it has created a cottage industry in ‘not in my name’ bumper stickers – but as ever the answer is, well, more complicated than that.
For starters, there’s the current tariff situation. Then there’s the fact that Tesla is actually more of a tech company than a car firm, which brings its own challenges.
Like a smartphone manufacturer, it’s all about the software, and in this respect it’s one of the best in the business, streets ahead of the legacy brands (and that also includes its understanding of battery chemistry).
Yet this means it doesn’t follow some of the tried and tested methods of the established practitioners, such as model cycles that include visually appealing mid-life refreshes designed to persuade people to part with their cash for cars that might otherwise be getting close to their sell-by date.
By contrast, Tesla’s line-up comes across visually as a bit old hat, as if the company has been peddling the same, unchanged product from day one. The recent Model 3 ‘Highland’ is a case in point. It’s a thoroughly overhauled car, but to the casual observer it could just as easily be the 2017 original.
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