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True to an extent but how Toyota changed the industry is working closely with OEMs or even partially or fully owning them as subsidiaries. The U.S. auto makers for decades told their suppliers, this is what we need this is how many now make it. If it had quality problems etc. that was the OEMs problem alone.
From what I've read Tesla has the opposite problem they are trying to make too much in house. Part of that may be that OEMs are being heavily pressured not to deal with Tesla.
As you may already know, doing stuff "in house" will ultimately save them $$$$ and lots of it in the long run. To elaborate, it does take a tremendous amount of effort to do and bring all the stuff in house. This takes a whole lot of tooling, engineering, training, resources, space, personel, managing, quality control etc... not to mention all the $$$$ you have to fork out up front to set this all up along with the assembly line and ramping up production for the high volumes that they need. Compared that to a supplier, a supplier would already have these things in place as they specialize in making certain product(s) and it would be relatively easier for them to ramp up production. I'm curious to know if OEM's are indeed being heavily pressured not to deal with Tesla? From whom? Salty dealerships maybe? conspiracy theory
I'm curious to know if OEM's are indeed being heavily pressured not to deal with Tesla? From whom? Salty dealerships maybe? conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory, although this one I would not be in the least bit surprised if true. Just about every auto maker wants Tesla to fail they don't want to be competing with an electric only auto company especially Tesla making their own batteries in house.
As you may already know, doing stuff "in house" will ultimately save them $$$$ and lots of it in the long run.
Not necessarily... The suppliers (OEMs as you call them) specialise in engineering and building thousands of these components -- such as seats, dashboards, door panels, etc. -- and so may be able to produce them for any automaker (customer) at a discount (less than it would cost the automaker to design and build them), especially if the automaker is a small, niche automaker, like Tesla.
This is one reason why the American automakers spun off their captive (in-house) suppliers (e.g. Delphi from GM and Visteon from Ford) in the late 1990s.
Even Toyota in North America buys a lot of components from North American suppliers. That is one reason why the Camry is consistently rated as one of the most "American" cars built in the USA, due to the large proportion of American-sourced components in the Camry.
Not necessarily... The suppliers (OEMs as you call them) specialise in engineering and building thousands of these components -- such as seats, dashboards, door panels, etc. -- and so may be able to produce them for any automaker (customer) at a discount (less than it would cost the automaker to design and build them), especially if the automaker is a small, niche automaker, like Tesla.
This is one reason why the American automakers spun off their captive (in-house) suppliers (e.g. Delphi from GM and Visteon from Ford) in the late 1990s.
Even Toyota in North America buys a lot of components from North American suppliers. That is one reason why the Camry is consistently rated as one of the most "American" cars built in the USA, due to the large proportion of American-sourced components in the Camry.
good points! that statement was ideal and theoretical and i agree, the OEMs have many many years in knowledge and experience over Tesla, and it may take Tesla just as long to attain that same knowledge, experience, and expertise, if they are around that long and still decide to keep everything in house. it will only be then will they be able to save $$$ on the OEM markup (OEM's are still in business to profit), shipping, packaging, logistics etc..
We had a chance to experience the interior of the new Tesla 3 today. Husband is a super fan of the brand, I am more so-so. The Tesla store along the in Toronto has a demo, we could not drive it, but we could sit in it. We had to wait almost 20 minutes in a line to check it out, many of the people waiting to check it out where walk-ins like us or those who actually pre ordered it. We were looking at cars for fun today and randomly selected Tesla and we invited to wait to look at it, I had no idea it was available. There was a timed 2 minute exterior demo and a 2 minute interior demo. Then that was it, the next person waiting to check it out. As I got to look at the front, there was someone who was already looking at the back, you were also not allowed to sit in the passenger front seat as that is where the Tesla person who explained the dash and front of the car.
(Hopefully keeping the politics of whether Tesla will survive or not)
Overall, a very cool car that I think will work. Feels like a concept car. Nice materials and nice design inside. Faux leather does not feel like leather. Wood trim on the front dash was nice. The screen was really freaking cool. The vents have this variable change where you pinch on the screen where you want the air to exit the vent which is the width of the dash.
There is a clear enthusiasm and movement underway for the Tesla brand. I will admit that. However, 12-18 month delivery in the Canadian market awaits for those who want one.
Husband took a few photos.
Last edited by Toys4RJill; Apr 28, 2018 at 03:12 PM.
Sometimes when I see these on the street (many on San Fran, home of Tesla) I think its quite an attractive car. But from some angles, like rear quarter panel, it looks too frumpy because it doesnt have the length of the S. But millennials are still flocking to it, and I hope they continue, to bolster the stock
See at least one a week on the streets here in the DC/VA area. And not the same one haha. So they're definitely starting to roll out of the factory. Shame that they did away with the alcantara trim after initial production.
one of th eguys that works in the office next to mine just got his. Silver 3. Looks ok, not as nice as i would have expected. But he's pretty happy and excited, so that is what counts
It's pretty quick too as they really take off from a light. There's like 10 in my parking garage alone so i see them everywhere. I can't buy one until the range gets better. The advertised efficiency is when you drive pretty sedately. My driving habits would decrease that range to less than half
They are everywhere here. I think the only ones that look good are Black. Not bad looking at all in Black, every other color looks generic. Like one of those generic matchbox cars kids play with.
Wow they must have favored california deliveries heavily. Haven't seen one in florida yet.
For a number of reasons, that's where many of their orders have probably been coming from. CA, unlike many other states, has a well-developed infrastructure for recharging electric cars quickly and efficiently.
