Zero to 25k is solid growth, but they're still a long way from bring equal, let alone dominant and profitable, which feels like where people think they'll be in the future.
http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2017/01/usa-december-2016-large...
I doubt Tesla dominates anything regarding global sales, at this moment :)
There's no equivalent to "buying a Tesla" for another brand, which is a lot of why you buy one. The picture gets more interesting when you look outside the US, where they sell about 15/20% of the E class, BMW 5 series, Audi A4 and other similar cars, which are a much closer match to a Tesla.
I genuinely find the fit, finish, and comfort (cabin noise in particular - thank you double glazing!) in my 20 year old S Class to be better. The E-class feels a much better comparison to me.
Model S tops out at $160k, S class at ~$250k w/ a S65 or technically a Maybach.
Interior and luxury the S class wins for sure. Performance and tech the Tesla wins.
Exactly what context is this supposed to be?
The car market is a huge market, so there is a lot of room for Tesla to grow. Tesla is at a junction point right now. It is a strong player on the Luxury segment (eg: Porsche territory), and they seem to be going for the Premium segment (eg: BMW territory) which is what their valuation expect it to go.
It looks like the natural way to go, especially considering the investment in SuperCharger network. Except when you consider the scale of that market. Tesla would need to be able to scale by an order of magnitude (think dealer and garage network too) and a huge chunk of those purchases are fleet purchases. Once the competition enter the premium electric market ( all the premium brand have a 2020 target date, which of course means potentially nothing ), Tesla will need to be ready to have a new generation of all its car ready and be ready to do refreshes on a regular basis.
Even that context is not the full context. Automatic driving is coming which will change the relationship of people to car owning.
Tesla is a growth company, if you don't think they can go bigger you should short them.
I hope they can do this without a dealer network.
A then Tesla.com lists the BlueWater as a showroom. It had 2 cars last time I was there, both in the same colour.
That's not nearly enough to sell a popular car in the premium segment.
note: I understand that Dealer is something special in the US. I use the term liberally to mean "Some places that sells Tesla car". I believe that the hate of Dealer in the US is not so fundamental that they would buy a 30K car online only. Hell Apple is doing great with Apple Store with the opposite approach and nothing they sell is close to the same level of financial commitment.