Killing Tesla is not as easy as you think!

Ever since Musk entered the automotive industry, every time another new electric car hits the market, it’s dubbed the “Tesla Killer.”

But since Fisker’s legend was destroyed in the fire of bankruptcy, Tesla has dominated the electric car market in the U.S. Even though two other pure electric luxury SUVs landed in the U.S. market 10 months ago—the Audi E-Tron Quattro and the Jaguar I-Pace—Musk can even continue to expand his advantage in this still young automotive market.

In the past two days, Bloomberg, the most powerful and authoritative media against Tesla, published an article titled: "'Tesla Killers' Are Having A Really Hard Time Killing Tesla"

Translated into Chinese, it means that it is really difficult for Tesla killers to kill Tesla.

When we saw this headline, we didn't know why Bloomberg said this. After all, not long ago, Tesla had another major negative news. Tesla's most important co-founder and chief technology officer, JB Straubel, also left Tesla and only served as a consultant. The departure of JB Straubel also means that there are no more founding team members in Tesla except Musk.

Could it be that as long as Musk is there, Tesla will be able to move forward courageously?

Only those who hate Tesla would reject Model S/X/3

Let’s first take a look at what Bloomberg said?

Bloomberg said that the launch of the Audi E-Tron Quattro and Jaguar I-Pace has proved that traditional car companies can no longer achieve success quickly through new energy vehicle models.

From a market perspective, Tesla Model S/X has always maintained a considerable advantage over these two competitors with shorter driving ranges and fewer charging facilities. Compared with the cool features that Musk has successfully created in the past, such as Tesla's ambitious autonomous driving technology elements and gaming and entertainment functions that can be wirelessly upgraded via OTA, Audi and Jaguar also lack corresponding effective measures.

"If consumers choose an Audi or Jaguar electric car instead of a Tesla, they must be very opposed to Tesla," said Ed Kim, a researcher at Auto Pacific, an automotive market consulting firm. "The person who makes this decision must really dislike Tesla and firmly reject Tesla products."

Tesla's Model S/X each have an EPA range of over 300 miles, and the cheapest Model 3 has an EPA range of 240 miles. In comparison, the $69,500 Jaguar I-Pace has an EPA range of 234 miles, and the $74,800 Audi E-Tron Quattro has an EPA range of 204 miles.

Another key venue for FE

In order to promote their I-Pace, Jaguar's marketing department has been working hard for a long time. In 2016, Jaguar joined Formula E, an open electric formula similar to F1.

"We were already developing a mass-produced pure electric vehicle, the I-Pace, at that time," said James Barcley, head of Jaguar's racing department. "We wanted to bring expectations to the market and tell the world that we are making electric vehicles. Then we had to make everyone understand why you should choose Jaguar's electric vehicles instead of other brands."

Porsche and Mercedes-Benz also announced their participation in the 2019-2020 season of Formula E, hoping to boost the popularity of their all-electric cars that will debut this year. Formula E's host cities include Hong Kong, New York, and London, which are also cities that car companies believe will become the main battlefields for electric vehicle consumption.

"City centers will become the main application areas for electric vehicles," said Jim McCullough, head of North American marketing for Jaguar Land Rover. "So letting people in cities see electric vehicles first is actually the beginning of market education."

But even though Formula E attracts a large number of city residents to cheer for the race, the traffic on the track does not necessarily translate into crowds in stores.

"Car racing is actually the least influential factor in people's purchasing desire," AutoPacific's Kim told Bloomberg. "Even if Jaguar performs well in Formula E, it will have no impact on I-Pace sales. I don't think it will have a positive effect on people's impression."

Targeted subsidy for Tesla owners: $3,000

Since its launch in the U.S., I-Pace has been selling at an average of 190 units a month. In comparison, Tesla Model X sold an average of 550 units a month in 2015, the first year it was launched, according to data from insideevs.com.

Also according to data from insideevs.com, Audi E-Tron Quattro has been sold in the US market for about 4 months, with an average monthly sales of 745 units. Pure electric models account for about 3% of Audi's total US sales, and Audi hopes to reach this proportion by 2025. 30%.

"We believe we can continue to bring new products to the market, and we also believe that users are willing to choose our products," said Cian O'Brien, president and chief operating officer of Audi of North America, in an internal email.

After losing the first battle to win over consumers, Jaguar decided to give Tesla a heavy blow.

Jaguar USA will offer Tesla owners a $3,000 discount on their purchases in the next month and a half. "It's all about market share," Jaguar Land Rover spokesman Stuart Schorr said in an internal letter. "The electric vehicle market is still in its infancy" - Jaguar firmly believes that their sales will increase.

"Consumers see our efforts in the racing field and naturally think that Jaguar is the brand they should choose when buying electric vehicles," Barcley said. "Rome was not built in a day. For a traditional luxury brand, its first attempt in the electric vehicle market will take some time for the market to accept it."

The Soul of Tesla and the Turmoil at NIO
After reading the Bloomberg article translated by Yu Fei on the cruise ship to Japan, I actually had mixed feelings, because of Tesla and also because of the recent series of negative news about NIO, which was once known as the Chinese Tesla.

In the "Wei Xuefen" or "Carbon Powder" group, over the past two days, when discussing NIO's rumor-busting and the recent layoffs, I have said many times that compared to the doubts and turmoil Tesla has encountered, NIO is just a drop in the bucket.

In fact, just a few months ago, Bloomberg was still doing its best to criticize Tesla. When Tesla's stock price plummeted in May, Bloomberg directly used the headline "The Disillusionment of the Tesla Bubble"

Another top US financial media, The Wall Street Journal, has always been sarcastic about Tesla. In the first quarter of this year, Tesla's US deliveries did not meet the expectations of investment analysts, so the Wall Street Journal gave the title "Tesla Delivered a Joke".

If we change the context, Tesla was once subjected to continuous and long-term criticism from the public on CCTV.

From the media's perspective, Tesla is being monitored because of its many problems. Without mentioning the latest spontaneous combustion incident, looking back at the past, everyone can see Musk on the verge of collapse on Christmas Eve in 2008, Musk holding his head in his hands when facing a workshop full of problematic Roadsters at the Tesla repair center in Menlo Park... and the current Tesla founding team has left.

Today, First Electric Network published an article: Behind the departure of Tesla's founder, which counted the members of Tesla's founding team, including Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who are well-known to everyone, Ian Wright, who is unknown to everyone, and JB Straubel, who was hailed as an important electrochemical expert in the world and Tesla's most important founding member and who just left.

I have already thought of the title: Musk, deserted by his friends!

However, all this has not hindered Tesla's current global conquest, has not hindered Tesla from becoming the symbol of electric vehicles, and has not hindered Musk from leading Tesla forward.

The raging fire is the inevitable path for any great company. Tesla is still on the road, while NIO has just started on this path. Whether it is layoffs, the transfer of the number one employee, the retirement of co-founder Zheng Xiancong, or the continuous questioning by the media, this is what NIO must go through.

Whether it will be hammered into mud by a ruthless hammer or reborn after thousands of trials and tribulations, from the perspective of historical materialism, depends on the inner tension of every NIO employee; from the perspective of heroic determinism, it is a test of the will, courage and wisdom of Li Bin, Qin Lihong and others.