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Comment by ff10 | Hacker News Reader

I really wonder where those customers come from.

There are a few "what did you drive before" threads on the Tesla forums, and it's all over the place, from Hummers to Jaguars to Maseratis to Nissan GT-Rs, but surprisingly many seem to be coming from Prius or a Volvo of some sort.

I wouldn't be surprised by Prius owners going Tesla, the Prius already was the "comfortable progressive" car of choice with its hybrid efficiency, so a Tesla is the natural progression. Volvo has similar brand connotations, making cars for people who care more about features and comfort than status symbol.

Hummer, Jaguar and Maserati though, those are further away from the natural "ideological core" of potential Tesla owners.

"Hummer, Jaguar and Maserati though, those are further away from the natural "ideological core" of potential Tesla owners."

True, but they are also cars for the affluent, and Teslas, in addition to appealing to people with an enviro-lefty bent, appeal to the affluent.

There is the joke/anecdata about the affluent two car families with a porsche and a prius (apparently Lexus were appalled that 'their' customers were going downmarket to signal eco-credentials). One of the original founders of Tesla talks about spotting this target market in a video talk which most HN readers would enjoy (the relevant bit is around 10 minutes in, explaining how rich the people who bought the EV-1 were and why it's silly to target EVs at the people who want to save money on gas)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf15nMnayXk

Tesla is taking customers from the german manufactuers, if you look at 2015 figures. Parent post is talking about 2012-onwards which isn't really relevant - the Model S wasn't made in significant volume until 2015.

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