This is how Tesla has gone from being a company on the brink of bankruptcy in the late 2010s to competing head-to-head with the big names in the industry.
The electric car is an important gateway to a multitude of new companies that start their journey in the automobile industry. Few survive rough starts because of the fierce competition the industry has historically experienced. But there is a company that has survived, and not only that, but has also set an important precedent in the market.
The revolution that the automotive sector has been experiencing for a decade with electrification is due, among other actors, to Tesla. Not only has he contributed to changing the way we see the private car in the 21st century, but he has also set the precedent for change towards electric and technological mobility, and for this reason he has not been without controversy.
Tesla, or how they went from being a company on the verge of bankruptcy to competing face to face with the greats of the industry in just 20 years
Tesla Motors (now Tesla) was founded on July 1, 2003 in a partnership formed by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who would later be joined by Ian Wright, JB Straubel and the world famous Elon Musk, who would end up becoming president of Tesla. the company at the checkbook with a significant million-dollar investment (by then, Elon was already a successful businessman).
The first years were not easy. Numerous rounds of financing were necessary, where most of the capital was provided by Elon himself, to lay the foundations of the company and develop what was the brand’s first electric car, the Tesla Roadster, a vehicle based on the Lotus Elise. .
Despite a start that seemed promising (they had created the Tesla Roadster in the first 3 years), the company was experiencing serious financial problems in 2007, chaining annual losses since its founding.
These problems were solved with different investments that came from various fronts, such as the capital contributed as an investor by Daimler AG or Toyota (which would end up materializing in different collaborations), a government grant to build an electric car factory, and a million-dollar loan from the government of George W. Bush allowed Tesla to be saved from bankruptcy.
The arrival of the Tesla Model S, key in the development of the company
Since 2008, the company has been working on the development of the Tesla Model S, a high-performance electric sedan with a range and versatility far superior to that of the Roadster. The model is launched on the market in mid-2012 and lays the foundations for true change, both internally in the company and in the automotive sector.
For the first time, an electric car with sufficient autonomy to cover the daily commutes of most drivers was viable. Thus begins vehicle sales that increase year by year.
The Tesla Model X was launched on the market in 2015 and was followed by the Tesla Model 3 (2017) and the Tesla Model Y (2019), the true best sellers of the brand and those that have contributed the most to both Tesla’s growth and democratization. of the electric vehicle with a significantly cheaper car, but with a more than reasonable range.
Such has been the growth of these two models that the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car in Europe during the first quarter of 2023, with 71,683 units sold compared to the 60,202 units achieved by the second best-selling car on the continent, the Dacia Sandero. .
Technological bet and brand strategy
Another bet by Tesla to achieve a position of strength in the market to compete face to face with manufacturers with more than a century of history has been technology. In addition to the design and the large touch screens with which he equips his vehicles, the famous Autopilot is the great asset of Elon Musk’s company.
Over the past decade, Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving system, Autopilot, has undergone numerous evolutions as it perfects its operation amid promises from Elon Musk that the system would be fully autonomous in the near future. .
For the moment it has not achieved this level of autonomy, but it has perfected its performance and has contributed to increasing Tesla’s sales and increasing its value on the stock market. Of course, the performance and autonomy of its electric cars have done the rest.
A clear example of how Tesla’s cars have shaken up the market can be found in the response of large manufacturers such as Porsche and Mercedes, which have launched the Taycan and the EQS in response to the Tesla Model S, or the arrival of the BMW i4 as a direct rival. of the Performance version of the Tesla Model 3.
But a brand strategy different from what is usual in the sector has also allowed it to continue growing as an automobile manufacturer. For example, Tesla created a referral program in which it converted its customers into a kind of commercial for the brand, which undoubtedly contributed to improving sales.
He also eliminated Tesla’s press and communication department, since Elon Musk does not believe in this advertising strategy to advertise his cars, vehicles that really do not need to be advertised thanks to an impressive volume of Tesla fans who act as speaker to report everything related to the company and its products.
The latest strategic move by the North American company is a price war in which Tesla has been lowering the prices of its products for months. This not only increases sales by decreasing the company’s profit margins, but also forces its competitors to act if they want to continue selling cars.
At the moment, it doesn’t look like many rivals are responding to these price drops, but given Tesla’s success in the market, we shouldn’t wait too long to see some sort of move.
