Seems Martins car is finished now

[chimpanzee]

Inside the War Against China's Blogs

BEIJING - It had the makings of an online crisis that could spiral out of control. A man in Tianjin had put a deposit on a Toyota (TM) Corolla, then started venting on the Internet when the car failed to show up after three months. Given the anti-Japan sentiment that rages in China's cyberspace, the griping created a big risk for Toyota—something the company learned four years ago when it was attacked for ads seen as disrespectful to Chinese.

Enter Daqi.com. The Beijing-based firm spotted the disgruntled consumer's postings in one of the 500,000 online forums it regularly searches. Before the topic could draw much attention, Daqi put the buyer in touch with Toyota, which pressed its dealer to deliver the car. "Even one negative consumer comment online can end up influencing many customers," says Zhou Chunlan, Daqi's CEO. "This is a great challenge for global brands." A public-relations agency representing Toyota says the company has worked with Daqi but declined to address the specifics of this incident.

Daqi is one of a new breed of company that helps multinationals navigate China's perilous Web. Nike, (NKE) PepsiCo (PEP), McDonald's (MCD), French cosmetics maker L'Oréal (LRLCY), and others have hired the likes of Daqi, fellow Beijing outfit Chinese Web Union, and Shanghai-based CIC. These companies charge $500-$25,000 monthly to monitor postings and squelch negative information or to create positive buzz.

This year has brought the Net monitors plenty of opportunities to win clients as hot-tempered bloggers have attacked global companies for perceived slights to Chinese culture. Coca-Cola (KO) and French retailer Carrefour were lambasted for what was seen as support for Tibetan independence. McDonald's, KFC (YUM), and Nokia (NOK) have been tarred for allegedly being stingy with relief money after the Sichuan earthquake. And Citroën had to apologize for an ad featuring a scowling image of Chairman Mao. "If it touches on nationalism, or if the client clearly made a mistake and disrespected a customer, that's dangerous," says Sam Flemming, CIC's founder.

1) court of public opinion
2) intermediary (e.g., Daqi.com)

1+2 = results

 

[vfx]

You are right. Tesla should hire them -or at least pay attention.

Might be good for a political canidate as well.

 

[DDB]

You are right. Tesla should hire them -or at least pay attention.

Might be good for a political canidate as well.

Why not address a problem before it snowballs out of control. I deal with this daily and I see more corps pay out the wazoo (in dollars as opposed to PR hits) by not addressing simple issues with CUSTOMERS. It seems very simple to me, especially with only 1000 or so customers to worry about. Down the road, fine, hire a larger firm to "police" the net. But at this point, one unhappy customer could bring down the house. A few happy customers could make the difference.

 

[Dogtown]

But at this point, one unhappy customer could bring down the house. A few happy customers could make the difference.

This is the most telling part of the whole thing. There are no cars in the hands of non investors. The management of Tesla has made a decision that it is better to not have the cars in the hands of unsupervised impartial parties. At some point something is going to give. I wonder if they think they will be able to sweep this under the carpet long enough to get the IPO out? Each day that this goes on I get a stronger feeling that the cars are no where near ready.

 

[Iz]

Based on previous postings, Martin's car is very close to delivery. His blog updates should provide an excellent perspective.

 

[malcolm]

The management of Tesla has made a decision that it is better to not have the cars in the hands of unsupervised impartial parties.

To be fair to the management, the whole inconvenience to customers of the return-your-car-to-get-the-transmission-upgrade is a hiccup best minimised as much as possible. Partly for cost issues, but also for the press.

If you are going to get comments from impartial parties, far better to have "It was late but it's fabulous" posted online rather than "My f&#%ing upgrade's delayed".

In this respect it is better to restrict this disruption to Founders/Funders/Close Personal Friends. But consequently the production schedule posted in the program update on the TM site is already looking unrealistic.

It's the middle of June and we were led to believe that Martin's car was delayed by its custom paint job.

Blimey! If that happens with a paint job, imagine the delay with replacing the transmission.

 

[Brent]

Each day that this goes on I get a stronger feeling that the cars are no where near ready.

As much as I like the premise of the car and hope for its success, I was rather taken aback at some of its "features" when talking to the guys at the L.A. store. Elon wants to compete with Porsche, but it seems he has a long way to go when it comes to the overall quality of the car. Little annoyances matter, especially if there are a lot of them. If you're unable to take the Roadster to the car wash because the seals leak, or if wind noise stops conversations while driving down the freeway, or if the cooling fans make a racket in your garage while the thing is being recharged, you might start to question the purchase.

And, in any case, buyers should be concerned! We're a full quarter into "production" without even a car having been delivered to Martin.

 

[Cobos]

I really would like to see their production rates hit higher speeds. And for the sake of all things good, DO get the car delivered to Martin already. This is starting to look really really stupid. I'm just waiting until the day Martin sues Tesla for breach of contract For the supposedly second car it can't be that hard to get it to the states...
Anyone remember where the Whitestar info in Q2 2008 was announced?

Cobos

 

[malcolm]

Sounds like we need another thread in the Roadster forum.

Potential Irritants / Wish List

Door seals.
Wind noise with hardtop.
Cooling fan noise on recharge.

The Owner(s) can add to this.

 

[tonybelding]

As much as I like the premise of the car and hope for its success, I was rather taken aback at some of its "features" when talking to the guys at the L.A. store. Elon wants to compete with Porsche, but it seems he has a long way to go when it comes to the overall quality of the car. Little annoyances matter, especially if there are a lot of them. If you're unable to take the Roadster to the car wash because the seals leak, or if wind noise stops conversations while driving down the freeway, or if the cooling fans make a racket in your garage while the thing is being recharged, you might start to question the purchase.

It's assembled by Lotus. Typical Lotus "features" would include. . .

• paint defects
• windows that don't roll all the way down
• warning lights that go on and off for no reason
• parts falling off the car while it goes down the road
• smell of scorched electrical insulation

Lotus owners tend to overlook these little eccentricities because the cars perform like no others.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Sounds like we need another thread in the Roadster forum.

Potential Irritants / Wish List

Door seals.
Wind noise with hardtop.
Cooling fan noise on recharge.

The Owner(s) can add to this.

Good idea. I hardly expect a startup working to Lotus to be up to Porsche standards, and like Lotuses people don't exactly buy a Tesla for it's quality, but it is a $100k car after all (and a Lotus is not). It deserves attention to the details even if you possibly have to raise the price a little (or make less profit) to offset the cost.

 

[malcolm]

It's assembled by Lotus. Typical Lotus "features" would include. . .

• paint defects
• windows that don't roll all the way down
• warning lights that go on and off for no reason
• parts falling off the car while it goes down the road
• smell of scorched electrical insulation

Lotus owners tend to overlook these little eccentricities because the cars perform like no others.

You forgot "rodent-friendly engine bay" :biggrin:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/off-topic/724-got-my-esprit-back-today.html

 

[doug]

And the saga continues:

So, where is Martin Eberhard's Tesla Roadster anyway? Here's the story so far - AutoblogGreen

It turns out that the car is here in the U.S. and was due to be delivered to Eberhard several weeks ago. Unfortunately, on the appointed day while a technician was doing a final checkout drive to make sure everything was working properly, there was an accident and the back end of the car sustained significant damage.

Commenter Yanquetino: "It strains credulity."

 

[tonybelding]

And the saga continues:
Commenter Yanquetino: "It strains credulity."

And yet. . . If they just wanted to snub Martin, I should think they could have found a less expensive way to do it. Because the damage obviously has to be repaired on Tesla's dime, you know. And that's without considering the impression this incident makes on other buyers as they hear about it.

Don't ascribe to malice what can be explained with a perfectly ordinary blunder.

 

[doug]

Tony, I agree with you. Personally, I don't believe this could be intentional because it's just too incredible. After all the controversy surrounding Martin's car, the coincidence of having an accident like this just looks bad all around. Like I said elsewhere, it really is a ridiculous set of circumstances. It literally strains credulity.

I really hope Tesla can remedy the situation to Martin's satisfaction as a customer, ASAP. This is key to Tesla's maintaining a good reputation as a company. I sincerely hope they are successful.

 

[domenick]

I can't believe a photo hasn't leaked of the damaged Tesla. I just checked Wrecked Exotics but it wasn't there.

I'm sure it's on someone's cell phone somewhere.

 

[doug]

I can't believe a photo hasn't leaked of the damaged Tesla. I just checked Wrecked Exotics but it wasn't there.

I'm sure it's on someone's cell phone somewhere.

Found it!!

 

[stopcrazypp]

Found it!!

Yeah nice try, doug, had me fooled for a second there :tongue:.

 

[doug]

Yeah nice try, doug, had me fooled for a second there :tongue:.

Had to try to bring back a little bit of humor around here. :smile:


The discussion about Martin's Roadster being in an accident continues here: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/news-articles-events/1266-martins-crashed-roadster.html

 

[malcolm]

Any more word on the nature of the accident? Is someone's insurance going to have to cover repairs to the rear of the vehicle?