The continuing downward slide of MB dealers & the “Luxury Experience.”
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Here's an interesting survey from Bloomberg of 5,000 model 3 owners from 2019. They surveyed what owners traded in for their Model 3's. One main advantage MB still has over Tesla would be luxury, that and likely the older and more loyal clientele versus BMW which isn't as synonymous with luxury but performance and with younger more performance driven clientele, may be why BMW is more threatened by Tesla's success.
Tesla’s Model 3 Success Hits BMW the Hardest
Tesla’s Model 3 Success Hits BMW the Hardest
Last edited by js_cls; Apr 8, 2021 at 02:36 PM.
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2015 S550
Here's an interesting survey from Bloomberg of 5 model 3 owners from 2019. They surveyed what owners traded in for their Model 3's. One main advantage MB still has over Tesla would be luxury, that and likely the older and more loyal clientele versus BMW which isn't as synonymous with luxury but performance and with younger more performance driven clientele, may be why BMW is more threatened by Tesla's success.
Tesla’s Model 3 Success Hits BMW the Hardest
Tesla’s Model 3 Success Hits BMW the Hardest
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From: Cincinnati
2010 E350 4Matic
Electric cars are extremely annoying to drive. I can't blame MB for dragging their feet. And once Republicans take back control of both chambers of Congress next Fall and the presidency in 2024 (depending on how much the Democrats cheat), and gas prices begin to fall again, the rush to green tech will slow dramatically and companies like Cadillac who are banking on being fully electric in 2035 will see their sales plummet as they'll be left holding the bag.
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Out Of Control!!
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2019 C63CS
The EV situation will shake out however it will, but at the moment it's a bubble. Most living in it own houses with charging at home capabilities. They forget that the majority lives in apartments or condominium complexes that don't offer charging at home yet, so having to go charge your EV somewhere is much more inconvenient than making a 3 minute gas station stop if you can't plug it in at home overnight. I do think EVs will go mainstream eventually, but not for environmental reasons primarily, but for their reduced complexity and therefore much lower operating costs. It does seem to be fad to some extent. Porsche for example sold a lot more Taycans last year than they expected, but I just heard the sales are tapering off. Seems the initial demand was from existing Porsche owners with cash sitting around and who just wanted one because it was the newest thing Porsche had to offer. Now it's down to Macan, Boxter etc. owners and that's a much harder sale given the current cost of it and a lot of Tesla sales are to customers who already own a Tesla. There's a certain category of folks who buy EVs and stay with them. Most that I know have come from relatively low performing ICE cars and now are hooked on the performance. Much like any of us who previously bought regular Mercedes cars etc. and then never went back after buying their first AMG or other performance brand.
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2019 S560, 2015 Honda Civic Hybrid
EV owners do not currently pay into the highway trust fund (i.e. the 18.4 cents a gallon collected with sales of gasoline). Someday that gap will be closed and EVs will have to pay their fair share for road building and upkeep ...
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From: Canada
A car
Umm....MB owners flocking to Tesla? Sure - absolutely some truth in that. S class owners flocking to Tesla? Come on, no. At least not en masse.
Tesla hasn't figured out the luxury model yet. Their build quality is shoddy at best. an Etron GT RS or whatever the heck it's called? Sure. A Taycan? Sure. A Tesla? Umm. No.
My own personal opinion is that Tesla's are inferior products and not a luxury car, by any stretch.
Tesla hasn't figured out the luxury model yet. Their build quality is shoddy at best. an Etron GT RS or whatever the heck it's called? Sure. A Taycan? Sure. A Tesla? Umm. No.
My own personal opinion is that Tesla's are inferior products and not a luxury car, by any stretch.
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From: Tennessee
2015 MB S550 & 2020 MB GLS 450
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Umm....MB owners flocking to Tesla? Sure - absolutely some truth in that. S class owners flocking to Tesla? Come on, no. At least not en masse.
Tesla hasn't figured out the luxury model yet. Their build quality is shoddy at best. an Etron GT RS or whatever the heck it's called? Sure. A Taycan? Sure. A Tesla? Umm. No.
My own personal opinion is that Tesla's are inferior products and not a luxury car, by any stretch.
Tesla hasn't figured out the luxury model yet. Their build quality is shoddy at best. an Etron GT RS or whatever the heck it's called? Sure. A Taycan? Sure. A Tesla? Umm. No.
My own personal opinion is that Tesla's are inferior products and not a luxury car, by any stretch.
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From: San Diego, CA
2024 EQE 500
The Tesla Model S is a really cool car. It's built like an 80's K car but for those of us with the means to charge overnight at home, never having to go to a gas station again, there is a certain luxury to that, It does not in my opinion complete with S/7/A8.
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From: Chicago burbs
2015 S550
You cannot fully charge one of those at home overnight. Even with 220, it likely wouldn't charge more than 50% over 8 hours.
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From: on my way
2012 CLS63
Electric companies are very thankful too 
What will happen to the cost of electricity once the charging infrastructure is in place? Or before? I myself only have ONE choice when it comes to who I choose to provide electricity. Seems fair right?
What will happen to the cost of electricity once the charging infrastructure is in place? Or before? I myself only have ONE choice when it comes to who I choose to provide electricity. Seems fair right?
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From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
For residential customers there's likely not gonna be much of a change. Most providers will move to time of day rates as opposed to flat rates to encourage people to charge their cars off hours when there is plenty of extra capacity. Public charging stations is a different story. Read up on Demand charges. Non-residential or commercial customers don't just pay the kwh rate, but they also pay so called demand charges for maintaining constant supply of electricity. These charges can be huge and is why the kwh at Electrify America costs 78 cents w/o discounts from the car manufacturers. It can be as low as 31 cents, but that's still significantly higher than what one pays at home.
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Thats not correct. With the right equipment the highest capacity Teslas take ~10 hours to fully charge. Also bear in mind that you're hardly ever going to plug it in totally empty.
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From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Right, home charging works because most people don't drive the full range in a single day. Average miles driven per day in the USA is 29.2 miles, so on average one only has to replenish about 30 miles every night. For a normal driven EV one can actually pretty much survive by keeping the battery charge around 50% at all times for longevity and just charge it back to 50% every night. Those with longer commutes will have to replenish more every night, but yes rarely does one need to charge at home from 0 to 100%. It takes planning, though. If you have a road trip planned for the next day, then you probably wanna charge to a 100% on the previous day so you are ready to go. All EVs let you set the desired charge level, so they automaticallly stop charging at the desired level.
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You're right. That is an interesting survey. The most interesting part being that not 1 Mercedes model was on the list of cars given up in favor of the Model 3. Not even an A, C, or any other lower priced MB models. And MB was the least vulnerable out of the 8 luxury brands mentioned.
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No more MB:(
Umm....MB owners flocking to Tesla? Sure - absolutely some truth in that. S class owners flocking to Tesla? Come on, no. At least not en masse.
Tesla hasn't figured out the luxury model yet. Their build quality is shoddy at best. an Etron GT RS or whatever the heck it's called? Sure. A Taycan? Sure. A Tesla? Umm. No.
My own personal opinion is that Tesla's are inferior products and not a luxury car, by any stretch.
Tesla hasn't figured out the luxury model yet. Their build quality is shoddy at best. an Etron GT RS or whatever the heck it's called? Sure. A Taycan? Sure. A Tesla? Umm. No.
My own personal opinion is that Tesla's are inferior products and not a luxury car, by any stretch.
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From: Santa Barbara, CA
S550C4, Porsche Cayenne
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S560
LOL!!!
In 2019, Tesla sold 195,125 cars in the US. MB sold 352,734.
So much for your argument about affluent buyers flocking to Tesla over MB.
I don't doubt that Millennials are the target group for Tesla. But if the US taxpayers didn't foot the bill for Tesla, they'd never sell any cars as they'd cost double what they sell for now. And it's not like they have very good build quality or are loaded to the gills in luxury features. I guess us old dinosaurs still appreciate a high quality luxury product where we don't have to worry how far our car will go before it runs out of energy and takes hours to fully recharge....whereas I can fill up from empty in 5 minutes.
In 2019, Tesla sold 195,125 cars in the US. MB sold 352,734.
So much for your argument about affluent buyers flocking to Tesla over MB.
I don't doubt that Millennials are the target group for Tesla. But if the US taxpayers didn't foot the bill for Tesla, they'd never sell any cars as they'd cost double what they sell for now. And it's not like they have very good build quality or are loaded to the gills in luxury features. I guess us old dinosaurs still appreciate a high quality luxury product where we don't have to worry how far our car will go before it runs out of energy and takes hours to fully recharge....whereas I can fill up from empty in 5 minutes.
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From: unbegrenzt
2017 GLE350 4MATIC
Took my wife's BMW in for annual maintenance this week. Shortly after the dealer's opening time, I received a text message. It included two 5 minute videos, well lit and clearly focused, narrated articulately by the technician who worked on my wife's car. He explained how the oil change and brake fluid flush were finished (fast!), and the cooling system pressure test that I requested was in process, and showed the pressure device. He then went on to point out the usual "recommended" items, which are revenue generation projects for the dealership. I loved the video, and the personal touch of both the service technician and the articulate communication from the service advisor. The sales staff there are friendly and appear to be car enthusiasts, at least they do a good job pretending to be enthusiasts. Picked up my wife's car, which was clean and vacuumed. Great experience.
My local MB dealer, down the street and around the corner, will surprise me if they ever come close to the narrated-video-by-text feature, and if they do all of my requested jobs without being badgered and without me having to ask for it on three separate occasions. It's not a stretch to say the service advisor lied to me on more than one occasion. I could tell when his face turned green and he got the "sick to the stomach because I just lied" look. They don't come across to me as car enthusiasts, although the dealer group's owner's antique SL is always in the service department....
The local MB dealer is a chump. The local BMW dealer is a champ.
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From: Maryland
2024 S580
My Mercedes dealer does the exact same texted narrated video and I was very impressed with their staff, all seemed to be car guys too.
Really depends on the ownership of the dealer.
Really depends on the ownership of the dealer.
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From: Chicago burbs
2015 S550
I don't know where you came up with that. Hooked up to a standard dryer type plug will charge an S in roughly 10 hours. A dedicated 50a juicebox (commonly used) will charge it in 6-9 hours.
I would use more recent data. Tesla sold 292,902 vehicles in the US for 2020 and Mercedes sold 325,915. So the thesis starts to decay....
I would use more recent data. Tesla sold 292,902 vehicles in the US for 2020 and Mercedes sold 325,915. So the thesis starts to decay....
US auto sales were down around 15% last year (likely thanks to the COVID scam). Tesla sales were up 50% from the previous year due to catching up in production capacity and new models brought to market. Yet they still only made up 1.99% of all US Auto sales. Through March, 2021, their market share has dropped to 1.66% of market share. MB US market share in 2020 was 2.21%, but YTD they are 2.27%. So yes, your thesis is decaying.
