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What do you all think of Tesla Motors' marketing strategy of the roadster?

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danny

TMCing Since 2006
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Aug 15, 2006
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I've been concerned that they are giving the green aspects of the car too much emphaisis something that makes me worry it will turn off sports car enthusiasts, the people who in the end will be the ones buying the the majority of the car i think. They need to put the car on shows like top gear, fifth gear and give it to mags. like evo, automotorundsport, auto car, road and track for tests. Most articles I see are in mechanical/science mags or green mags. I'm sure they will eventually give it to the other car mags but I don't see them arguing for it because of its performance, rather they argue for it because its green. They need to go out there and say this will out perform all of you and it happens to be electric. I havn't gotten the impression about its handling cause all they say is its fun on a twisty road or something like that, something that doesn't give me much of an idea. I want it compared to other cars.
I hope I made sense.
What are you opinions
 
I think that maxim "all press is good press" seems approrpiate in this case. It is certainly not like there is an excess inventory of Roadsters sitting on the shelves. On the contrary, even prior to this car hitting the market, there is massive enthusiasm from about every medium. It's too early to figure out who will be the real target market...

Besides, the Roadster covers the whole gambit of buyers: greenies, hot rodders, republicans...the list goes on. Everyone seems to know about this car, now it's up to Tesla to deliver. :-\
 
GreenSpeed said:
I've been concerned that they are giving the green aspects of the car too much emphaisis something that makes me worry it will turn off sports car enthusiasts, the people who in the end will be the ones buying the the majority of the car i think.

I feel the same way, I posted a comment about that on Tesla's blog page.

One problem is, there's a lot of education that has to be done about this technology. It's hard to dodge the subject when there are so many ignorant people spouting off things like: "It's not green, it just moving the pollution somewhere else! Electricity is made from coal, it pollutes more than gasoline!" I think I've seen that one a dozen times, and of course they have to answer those kinds of misconceptions.

Another problem is, with only two engineering prototypes here in the USA, there's not a lot of opportunity to put "automotive journalists" behind the wheel and turn them loose on the track. That will change given time. . .

But it still irks me. The only real performance-oriented magazine to take more than a cursory glance at the Roadster so far has been Winding Road, and I'm not even sure how much they count since they are an internet magazine only. I haven't seen much about it in the newsstand magazines, haven't heard a word mentioned on TV shows like MotorWeek or Autoline Detroit.

Tesla is a company without any pre-existing fan base or any kind of proven track record. So I'm sure there's some skepticism in the news media, especially among people who are already biased against anything labeled "green", like the Top Gear guys or the Car & Driver guys. Tesla have to prove they've really got something, and that will take a while. So, I guess we just have to be patient.
 
Tony and I have both been thumping the "where's Tesla" drum in regards to the sports car press. I am patient but still think the car is worth a mention. A buddy said Car and Driver gave the T a paragraph...


The conspircy theorist in me has another take on it. Tesla has no advertising budget. Obviously they have a a PR budget but I was told they just plan to get the world out virally without purchasing advertising. That said, there a "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" that goes on with a lot of mainstream (and trade) publications.

To put it simply, You no buy full page color ad, you get no mention...


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I can't help but feel that Tesla is holding back on doing much with developing additional prototypes for magazine marketing until they've completed passing all certifications and concluded that they are ready to go full bore into producing the production version of the vehicle. Of course, I could also imagine that having some magazines do some testing of pre-production models could also help get input on additional change suggestions.
 
Michael said:
I can't help but feel that Tesla is holding back on doing much with developing additional prototypes for magazine marketing until they've completed passing all certifications and concluded that they are ready to go full bore into producing the production version of the vehicle.  Of course, I could also imagine that having some magazines do some testing of pre-production models could also help get input on additional change suggestions.
I'll have to agree with this. Also I think they're still trying to work out some things with the suspension (like anti-sway bar for the rear) to make sure the handling is fine with the extra weight of those batteries.
 
tonybelding said:
A recent article -- in the LA Times I think -- said they are going to change the gearbox before going into production, because the type used in the prototype cars has been too troublesome.
Yeah, Tony astutely mentioned a while back they might be having trouble with the transmission since all the test drives were locked into 2nd gear.  On that MSN video the car actually broke down due to the transmission.  That's kind of embarrassing.