Tesla, TSLA & the Investment World: the Perpetual Investors' Roundtable

[Tony73]

I think there are a number of reasons that add up to it not being worth it:

• Half the number of variants but only a small percentage of sales
• FSD LHD in RHD market is more acceptable now even pre hands-off
• Cybertruck coming will Osborn sales
• Too big for UK and several other RHD markets
• Simplifies offering in UK etc. by not pushing them online or in store
• Don't need to put them in stores or promote test drives
• Y and 3 are going upmarket starting with Highland

At the peak, Tesla probably sold less than 7.5k model S/X annually across the UK, Japan and Australia/NZ. There is obviously some cost savings from discounting the RHD model S/X but I still think it’s a short sighted decision from a brand positioning point of view. Flagship Models are what define a brand as luxury and they help to sell the more affordable models. The Porsche Taycan is a pretty common sight in certain parts of London by the way.

 

[FireMedic]

BREAKING:

RIVN up 13% on news of a YUGE Tesla P/D beat!

I know, low base. Blah blah. Just sayin it’s good for a chuckle!

 

[Tony73]

Really!? You’re pissed off that the company made a choice (in the moment because you know darn well they can change their minds at any point), during economic uncertainty to continue to strengthen their business in preparation for a possible planet wide recession thus making sure your long term investment remains solid!?

Go buy another EV that comes in RHD. Then you can have your cake (TSLA) and eat it too (help save the planet).

RHD reservation holders have a right to be pissed off. I would be if I was them.

 

[Christine69420]

BREAKING:

RIVN up 13% on news of a YUGE Tesla P/D beat!

I know, low base. Blah blah. Just sayin it’s good for a chuckle!

Rivian did a beat themselves - 12.640 vs 11.298 expected.

Good for them!

 

[Singuy]

BREAKING:

RIVN up 13% on news of a YUGE Tesla P/D beat!

I know, low base. Blah blah. Just sayin it’s good for a chuckle!

Haha, they actually had a 50+% qoq delivery and production growth.

 

[Artful Dodger]

...every car Tesla sells is almost always to a person who won't knows 1.1 people who will buy a Tesla the next quarter.

FTFY.

Cheers to the Best Sales People Ever!

 

[2daMoon]

Kind of a slow start, but maybe it will pick up later.

After all, it is an abbreviated day, and, a week for fireworks and celebration in the US.

 

[15Peter20]

RHD reservation holders have a right to be pissed off. I would be if I was them.

Meh. I’m a bit sad mine was cancelled, but as A TSLA hodler and mission fan I’m happy to trust them to do the right thing.

The right thing is a mini-Cybertruck in 2025 now mind you. No ifs, ands or buts.

 

[FireMedic]

Haha, they actually had a 50+% qoq delivery and production growth.

I’d delete my post…but I think it should stand to represent why you should only read my posts for lol’s.

Rivian did a beat themselves - 12.640 vs 11.298 expected.

Good for them!

Agree, congrats to rivn. I truly wish them all the best and I do like their products.

 

[Patrick66]

Who here is buying F and TM?

TM hell no, but F on a dip down to $11-12 could be compelling. Ford seems to be clued in on their medium-term plan, has a reasonable grasp on what they are doing wrong right now, and has a plan to remain relevant. The same cannot be said for GM, Stellantis, Toyota, or Honda... or VW for that matter. Once VW gets clued in they might be interesting though.

 

[SOULPEDL]

Curious, did we pocket the golden cross yet?

 

[Patrick66]

Once upon a time I saw cost accounting for RHD v LHD for a large OEM. There wa very small incremental cost then fro RHD v LHD

The cost isn't necessarily huge, but if you are only talking about 40k S and 40k X/year, supporting 2-3k LHD vehicles per model just might not be worth it-- it is essentially 2 weeks of production so how do you split it up where it makes sense?

If they could slipstream 100 into production every couple weeks it might make sense, but you still need to deal with the shipping logistics.

Maybe the smarter move would be to go full steer by wire for the S/X so the only real change is the instrument panel assembly, and then bring it back.

 

[SOULPEDL]

No more Options - pure shares now. Taking Elon at his word (indirectly).

 

[Patrick66]

No more Options - pure shares now. Taking Elon at his word (indirectly).

If you take Elon at his word, wouldn't you be more comfortable with (DITM) calls now? I'm happy to have the leverage on a portion of my portfolio personally, but it gets riskier when Elon makes a big sale.

 

[Gigapress]

Now that is what I call an insult!

Am I the only one that can't celebrate today I celebrated previously at $300 $350 and $400 so now I can't celebrate those numbers again.
$420 is going to be an epic celebration for me and I'm guessing many others. May I suggest a TMC party.

… Also at our Los Angeles meetup the day prior, we decided that whenever TSLA finally hits a new record and reaches $420 per share we will assemble the forum in Las Vegas for an All-Time High TSLA Investor Summit. Attendance will be mandatory with absences excused only for island/mountain real estate acquisitions.

 

[Mike Smith]

'Great news': EU hails discovery of massive phosphate rock deposit in Norway

A massive underground deposit of high-grade phosphate rock in Norway, pitched as the world’s largest, is big enough to satisfy world demand for fertilisers, solar panels and electric car batteries over the next 50 years, according to the company exploiting the resource.

www.euractiv.com

This discovery doubles the world reserves of phosphate, the 'P' in LFP batteries.

 

[EVWatcher]

The cost isn't necessarily huge, but if you are only talking about 40k S and 40k X/year, supporting 2-3k LHD vehicles per model just might not be worth it-- it is essentially 2 weeks of production so how do you split it up where it makes sense?

If they could slipstream 100 into production every couple weeks it might make sense, but you still need to deal with the shipping logistics.

Maybe the smarter move would be to go full steer by wire for the S/X so the only real change is the instrument panel assembly, and then bring it back.

To me it just seems an indication they felt close enough to being able to ship cars without steering wheels at all that they just said “screw it, we’ll ship to those countries again when their is no right and left”

 

[cliff harris]

The cost isn't necessarily huge, but if you are only talking about 40k S and 40k X/year, supporting 2-3k LHD vehicles per model just might not be worth it-- it is essentially 2 weeks of production so how do you split it up where it makes sense?

If they could slipstream 100 into production every couple weeks it might make sense, but you still need to deal with the shipping logistics.

Maybe the smarter move would be to go full steer by wire for the S/X so the only real change is the instrument panel assembly, and then bring it back.

I really don't understand the logic behind Tesla's cancelling of RHD at all. Sure, I'm in the UK, and an ex model S driver, so it feels particularly bad, but we are not the only country in the world that is RHD.
I can understand the thinking if it was a low-priced, low-profit model, but the S and X and both expensive, and also brand ambassadors.
I can see them sticking an extra few thousand £ on the price to cover for the apparently amazing amount of work required to make an RHD variant.... but to not offer them at any price smacks of an insult.

Its basically telling every wealthy UK EV buyer who likes a sporty sedan, than they should go buy a Porsche. Madness. Combine this with the USS mess, and the zero-FSD in the UK, and Tesla is really not doing a good job at all, of building its brand here. Elon or Tom Zhou needs to visit the UK and talk to some Tesla owners.

 

[SOULPEDL]

If you take Elon at his word, wouldn't you be more comfortable with (DITM) calls now? I'm happy to have the leverage on a portion of my portfolio personally, but it gets riskier when Elon makes a big sale.

Mine were 300 strikes in Jan '25, pretty limp at today's price.
Ask me again on the next big dip, I would likely buy shares instead though. Not trusting the macros yet.

There could be weakness in TSLA margins weeks away, so not taking chances given this hypothetical (BS). Although loving the S/X deliveries.

 

[Artful Dodger]

But the message sent is that other than the mass market Y and 3 there are u likely to be any RHD cars coming out of Tesla now.

I think Tesla plans to solve the whole RHD/LHD production issue by adopting 'drive-by-wire'. See Tesla's recent patents: (Articles dated June 19, 2023)

• Tesla files patent for steer-by-wire system, but when will we see it? | driveteslacanada.ca
• Tesla Patents Steer-by-Wire System, Increasing the Yoke's Potential | www.notateslaapp.com

Obviously simplfies production, and MY DREAM, it allows an Owner to switch sides ... very apropos for the EV transition! Just imagine driving from John O'Groats to Sparta... then if we can get a multi-lingual charger, carry on to Beijing!


Cheers!