Assignment:
Tesla Case Outline
I. History and Background
• July, 2003- Tesla Motors was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning
• 2004 - Elon Musk invests in Tesla Motors and becomes the Chairman of the Board
• July, 2006 - Tesla Roadster is released
• 2007 - Tough times for Tesla as the company was losing money. (Elaborate on this) In response Ze'ev Drori was made CEO
• 2008 - Elon Musk takes over as CEO
• June, 2008 - Model S is revealed by the company (Implication of this?) (How was this different from the roadster?)
• June, 2009 - Tesla Motors received a $465 million loan from the Department of Energy. The loan was paid off nine years early
• June, 2010 - Tesla goes public and is the first American car company to do so since Ford went public
• February, 2012 - Tesla releases its first SUV, the Model X
• 2012 - Tesla began building charging stations for their vehicles
• 2015 - Tesla wins lawsuit in New Jersey and is able to sell their cars directly to customers (Edit: this reflects a broader trend in their distribution network. Please discuss, making sure to include the challenges they faced using the traditional channels.
• March, 2016 - Tesla reveals their most affordable car yet, the Model 3 (Be more specific)
II. Problems
• Profitability. Why haven't they broken even yet?
• Tesla faces conflicts with car dealerships. Why? And is not able to sell their vehicles in many states including Texas and Alabama
• Too reliant on ITCs and incentives. How so?
• Not enough affordable options for the average consumer
• Manufacturing is not meeting demand, causing back orders and long waits for the consumer to receive their vehicle
III. Recommendations
• How can they turn a profit?
• Increase marketing and support legislation in those states where the company still cannot sell vehicles directly to the consumers
• Create new more affordable and practical models. How? Ones that can be manufactured quickly to increase sales and prepare for the possibility of the loss of ITC on electric vehicles
• Develop and produce more vehicles in the same price range or below that of the Model 3. How?
• Ramp up production, especially of the Model 3 and find ways to capture economies of scale. How?
IV. Update
• Tesla will eventually be able to sell their electric vehicles all across the United States
• By allowing the company to function without investment tax credits, they will be protected from any possible political changes to the
ITC policy for electrical vehicles
• This will enable Tesla Motors to secure a large part of the current market and change the way that people travel
• More drivers will come to Tesla instead of its competitors or non electric vehicles if they can receive the car in a reasonable time frame for a low price
• Tesla acquires SolarCity (Need a lot of details)
• Semi-truck and Roadster reveal. Implications?
Work Cited
Van Den Steen, E. (2015, December 17). Tesla Motors[Scholarly project]. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
https://services.hbsp.harvard.edu/services/proxy/content/61922340/61922346/b3aa52e92be8ddac3cf04efb6e59fff6
Baer, D. (2014, November 11). The Making Of Tesla: Invention, Betrayal, And The Birth Of The Roadster. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-the-origin-story-2014-10
Is Tesla Equipped To Change The World? - Infographic. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
https://insideevs.com/tesla-revolution-tesla-equipped-change-world/
Kumparak, G., Burns, M., & Escher, A. (2015, July 28). A brief history of Tesla. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://techcrunch.com/gallery/a-brief-history-of-tesla/
Lambert, F., & Fred Lambert @FredericLambert Fred is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at Electrek.You can send tips on Twitter (DMs open) or via email: [email protected]. (2017, May 30). Tesla is leading a new charge to allow direct sales in Texas with a pure free market approach. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://electrek.co/2017/03/12/tesla-direct-sales-texas/
Model 3. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://www.tesla.com/model3
Stewart, J. (2017, July 31). When You'll Get Your Tesla Model 3-And How to Get It Faster. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from
https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-model-3-delivery-timeline/