Tesla – The maker of electric cars is 15 years old

Maybe 2003 will be as important in the history of the automobile as the year 1886, the year that marks the birth of the car. At the time, 15 years ago, some side thinkers founded Tesla in California. A start-up in order to eliminate the combustion engine of cars.

In the beginning, the bosses of the big car companies made fun of the small team that the CEO of today, Elon Musk, was the founder of. A nerd who was teased as a child, but then became one of the richest Americans through dotcoms. The native South African had no expertise in auto manufacturing right now.

But with Tesla, a move took over, which shook the PS industry in its foundations and has changed the market permanently – as much as possible already say.

"Before Tesla, electric mobility was associated with wheelchairs"

"Elon Musk is a pioneer and has made social mobility," says Stefan Bratzel of the Hochschule der Wirtschaft in Bergisch Gladbach, recognizing the merits of Musk . "Before Tesla, e-mobility was associated with wheelchairs, now it's a future engine – even for first-rate manufacturers."

Tesla launched its automotive production in 2008 with a converted Lotus Elise, whose energy storage consisted of commercially available lithium-ion batteries. In the summer of 2006, the company introduced a prototype of the car at Santa Monica Airport in California. Even with this car, e-pioneers have made long distance trips and proved the durability of the technology. The production vehicles now available, Model S or Model X, also swim naturally in traffic than a Mercedes S-Class or a BMW X5

"The availability of vehicles that pose no accessibility issues has dramatically accelerated the overall and positive view on e-mobility," says Jan Burgard of the firm's strategy consulting Berylls in Munich.

Since the sloppy start of Model 3 the rise has stalled

But the changing impact of Tesla on the automotive industry goes beyond the product. "Tesla has also put in place some very innovative and effective sales and communication channels," says Henner Lehne of the IHS testing house. Sales are mainly via the Internet. Instead of dilapidated car dealerships, Tesla moved into cool stores in a central location and distributed free fuel to the superchargers, their own charging stations – which had previously dared no other builder.

Perhaps such a radical change requires a touch of megalomania, as CEO Elon Musk seems to believe. Customers and politicians, the 47-year-old is almost worshiped as a Messiah: "Such hype has not seen in the more traditional auto industry so far," says Lehne. "This creates a link between the manufacturer and the customer that all other brands can only dream of." Thus, Tesla almost overnight built a premium premium brand in the first division, says auto economist Ferdinand Dudenhöffer of the University of Duisburg-Essen. "Lexus practices this today."

Experts and analysts Elon Musk and his brand attest to an impressive success. An increase in production of 211 vehicles in 2008 to 210,000 units planned in 2018 is ultimately an incredible growth story – even though Tesla has not made any profits. Despite high debts and no profit, the company still generated new capital again and again and thus pursued its visions, says Lehne. At least since the sloppy start of Model 3, it is progressing slowly.

Established manufacturers bring alternatives to the market

Model S and Model X were already behind schedule. But on his first mass model at a reasonable price, Musk made too arrogant ads, but reached the production target of 5,000 cars a week just the last week of June – as revealed a tweet from musk. This mark was already planned for the end of 2017.

No wonder potential customers no longer wanted to accept the delivery time of their model 3. Many of the 400,000 registered customers would have asked for their refund. Perhaps also because established manufacturers are increasingly promising alternatives: Jaguar is already on the starting line with the iPace, the Chevrolet Bolt that we offer because Opel Ampera E targets the model 3 and Audi, Mercedes and Porsche for nearly a year bring Tesla's competitors such as E-Tron, EQ C and Mission E to the market in the coming months.

Capital markets no longer respond as indulgent

"Today, Tesla has three models of vehicles on the market and works similarly Problems like any other manufacturer with vehicles in growth, performance and a market portfolio too, "explains Burgard, a Berylls partner, and as a result, Tesla loses special status and has to assert itself in a competitive environment that is increasingly electrified. should work now, otherwise it will not work with Elon Musk and his business model, "he predicts.

Experts such as Henner Lehne see the day of the decision approaching:" Capital markets do not respond more with such leniency to broken promises and company expectations. "No other S & P 500 index company currently has higher short sales than Tesla, which who means investors are betting on falling prices, said Lehne.

Tesla has not only changed the auto industry, but also Elon Musk has changed. While he continues his passionate commitment to send humanity to Mars or haul it into the Hyperloop, a high-tech tube for passenger transport, he is increasingly irritated against Tesla and Traitor tweets to reporters who "hypocritical" and answered the most critical questions of analysts during a conference call, because he found them too boring. Although he has just bought again a thick stock package to justify his commitment to the company. At the same time, he announced that he would fire nearly ten percent of the current 37,000 employees to break the break-even point.

Tesla as a coveted premium brand?

Faced with this situation, Tesla experts and even more see Elon Musk at the crossroads: "The risk that it will only appear in history books in 15 years n & # 39; It's not bad, "says Dudenhöffer. "But it's catching up with the curve and now in six months with Model 3 finally writing steady profits, Tesla will be a coveted premium car brand in 15 years – tied with Mercedes, BMW and Audi."

If Musk even on board, experts like Burgard are more likely to provide a point of questioning. Musk had the impression at South Digital South Congress in the spring that he could soon lose the appetite for his start-up. He preferred to talk about a form of government for a possible colony on Mars rather than the production and distribution of electric vehicles. It is quite possible that the terrestrial problems of musk will soon be solved by others.