Tesla's European lessons
As we saw with the Bono pic, Tesla Motors representatives took the Roadster to Europe for a little PR&R recently. Well, as Darryl Siry, Tesla's VP of sales, marketing, and service, writes in a new post about the company trip on the "feel" blog over on the Tesla Motors website, there wasn't as much R as he might have liked. So, for those of use who don't mind that Mr. Siry worked more than played on the old continent, let's see what he has to say (oh, and we thank him for his service, of course).
First up, pricing. The 2009 U.S. version of the Roadster will cost $109,000, up from $98,000 for the base 2008 model. A lot of the increase can be attributed to the weakening dollar, Siry writes, because Tesla pays for much of the Roadster in Euros and Pounds. The limited edition 2009 Euro-spec Roadster will cost 99,000 Euros, and is comparable to the fully-loaded 2009 Roadster. For more on the Euro-spec Roadster, look here.
Siry also gets into production of the current Roadsters, and says that Job 3 has been delivered (Martin Eberhard is still waiting for some custom paint work to be done on Job 2) and that production will be ramping up this summer and fall. Siry's got more for you here.
[Source: Tesla Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Patrik K 12:34PM (5/07/2008)
Why does the car cost USD 45'000 more in Europe?
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Phil L. 1:18PM (5/07/2008)
Currency conversions don't work for car pricing.
Try pricing any vehicle available both in the US and Europe. Currency conversion doesn't explain it...
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GoodCheer 1:47PM (5/07/2008)
Also, read the blog:
The 99k Euro price gets a signature series car with all options, which would cost $120k.
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Patrik K 6:39PM (5/07/2008)
That still does not explain 45k. That's over 45 more.
Shipping the car costs an extra 500, crash and emission (lol) tests don't need to be done extra. All that needs to be changed nowadays is the speedometer and some lightbulbs, not even the brake or headlights.
Since the car is so unique and produced in such small numbers, the usual market driven excuses don't apply,contrary to, say, a Porsche Turbo.
We're dealing with a new company here that should build trust, not rip-off.
Wouldn't you feel stupid buying this in Europe?
Come again, 2 and 3?
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Patrik K 6:41PM (5/07/2008)
PS: Ok, 33k, that's still 27% more.
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jake 9:52PM (5/07/2008)
@Patrik K
If you look at the base price it has gone up another 9k already (expected it to go even up more because of weak dollar). There is only going to be 250 of these Euro spec ones and they will have custom plaques and of course all the avaliable options and special paint colors. $33k more but again this is on par or better than the price differences from other manufacturers (if you look at the blog Darryl discussed this before). You have to remember there are going to be increased costs in these cars because they have to open service centers in europe and probably a headquarter. This cost is spread over only 250 planned roadsters so far, while over a 1000 roadster pre-orders were already in America alone. This is kind of like them testing the waters and maybe the price will go down when they are sure there is a market and things start moving along in Europe.
If people don't like it, like always, they can always do grey imports.
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GoodCheer 10:38PM (5/07/2008)
I think the question is not "what additional costs do they face that they need to cover in Europe?" The question is more like "how much can they charge and still sell the volume they are prepared to manufacture?"
We have known from the get-go that the price of the Tesla includes a premium intended to go towards subsequent vehicles. I would speculate that hype around the Roadster (and fuel prices) have grown faster than the Tesla management anticipated, so seeing prices rise in America and even more for the European launch is really not that surprising. Especially seeing a 1100 vehicle order back-log, this seems to me like a prudent business decision.
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psarhjinian 10:13AM (5/08/2008)
There should be a big fat asterisk on this story:
* Telsa will sell this car in Europe for $X when they actually get around to producing more than the two to four production vehicles they've managed to kick out the door thusfar.
I like the idea, but the constant gong-banging with no real product available to buyers (rather like the Volt in that respect) is going to tarnish the reputation of EVs are "real" choices.
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GenWaylaid 8:13PM (5/08/2008)
Wait, did he just say that "Job 3 has been delivered"? Isn't that the first "real customer delivery" that everyone was waiting for?
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