A Passing Fad -- July 30, 2015

 From The Los Angeles Times today, a passing fad?

Tesla sold 8,950 cars in the US during the first six months of this year -- holy hot car, Batman -- the goal was to deliver 55,000 cars this year, wasn't it? -- down 1.6% from the same period a year earlier.

Tesla deliveries are falling during a year when auto industry sales have risen 4.4% and are on track to have their best showing since 2001.

Analysts say the Tesla rebate program is basically a cash-back incentive meant to boost business at a time when Tesla could be reaching its saturation point in the luxury car market.

"It signals that the first segment of consumers, the early adopters willing to pay a premium for an electric vehicl, may be coming to an end, or is slwoing down at least."

With regard to the rebate: "Money isn't that big a deal to [the ultra rich]. All the people who really wanted a Tesla have one, and no one else is really interested in buying one."

That is pretty much the definition of a fad.

And that was in The Los Angeles Times.

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Miscellaneous

 
Tesla is now offering rebates. Previously reported.

In addition, some folks in California wonder why the state gives rebates back to the ultra-rich who buy the luxury cars. Bloomberg is reporting:

California’s incentives to purchase electric vehicles are under attack, as data shows most of the money goes to consumers who earn twice the national average yet collect cash rebates on Tesla Motors Inc.’s luxury models.

“It’s hard for the average Californian to understand why someone buying a $100,000 car should get a (state) rebate,” said California state Senator Ted Gaines, a Republican who has proposed eliminating rebates on cars that cost more than $40,000.

With almost a fifth of California payments applied to Tesla vehicles priced higher than $71,000, its regulators also are drafting rules to ration incentives based on income.

While the state accounts for 40 percent of the U.S. plug-in market and has doled out more incentive cash than any other, such rebates are being scrutinized from Washington to Georgia.

The incentives are intended to rid the roads of gas-guzzling vehicles that spew carbon pollution by making electric cars more more affordable to a broad range of consumers. Surveys indicate that 77 percent of buyers in California earn more than $100,000 a year.

Like the government (GDP) and NOAA (global warming), could Tesla be fudging their data or is it simply analysts misreading the numbers? International Business Times is reporting that Tesla's 2015 "delivery number" included deliveries made in 2014. 

In the few days since Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) said it delivered a record number of Model S luxury electric cars in the first three months of the year, investors have added 6.41 percent to the company’s share price. But the record first quarter deliveries includes 1,400 cars that were delayed in December due to unforeseen circumstances.

On Friday, Tesla said it delivered 10,030 cars to its customers in the first three months of the year, a 55 percent increase from the same period last year. But 1,400 of those deliveries could have taken place in December, according to a Feb. 11 letter to shareholders.

“Delivering those cars was physically impossible due to a combination of customers being on vacation, severe winter weather and shipping problems (with actual ships),” the letter signed by CEO Elon Musk and Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja said.

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Rolling Over

A great example of a magazine unafraid to take on any subject ... except itself. Rolling Stone declined to be interviewed for this story.