Tesla continues betting that China will be the main push for cheap Model 3

On the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, Tesla released its 2014 annual report, with losses rising and sales not reaching expectations as key words. But Tesla is still proposing a 2015 global delivery of 55,000 new cars, up more than 70% per cent year-on-year.

In mid-January, Tesla continued to look to China for the most significant pull on global sales growth in 2015, even though Tesla CEO Ellon Masc publicly said that "Tesla's sales in China were surprisingly poor in the fourth quarter of last year". It is reported that in the Tesla 55,000 of the expected delivery, the Chinese market accounted for more than One-seventh, that is, more than 7,800 vehicles.

This is an "impossible task" for the newly appointed Tesla team in China. The daily economic news reporter learned that last year, Tesla sold about 4,500 units in the Chinese market, with only 2,500 licences. Tesla delivered 120 vehicles in China this January.

"Tesla's next selling point should be after the launch of the cheap Model 3. "People familiar with Tesla told reporters. According to the current information, the model price of about 220,000 yuan, is expected to be listed in 2017.

Car shipments less than expected

The Chinese market has changed a few times, Tesla has been a success in China. In early 2014, he expected China to contribute 30% per 35,000 of its deliveries to Tesla, at least 10,000 at the start of last year. However, sales of 4,500 vehicles in the Chinese market last year were clearly not up to expectations.

It also has a direct impact on Tesla's global sales. Its annual report shows that in fiscal year 2014, Tesla's revenue was $3.198 billion, more than 2.013 billion dollars in the 2013 fiscal year, and a net loss of 294 million dollars, a net loss of 2013 dollars over the 74 million fiscal year. On February 12, Tesla's shares tumbled more than 8% per cent in early trading in the US stock market.

The disappointing thing about Tesla's earnings was the amount of car shipments. In the fourth quarter of last year, Tesla shipped 9,834 cars, less than the company had previously estimated 11200, while Tesla produced nearly 12,000 units in the same period. According to Tesla's earnings conference call information, Musk admits the company's "performance is not very good" in the Chinese market. The daily economic news reporter learned that the main reason for Tesla's earnings losses is focused on two fronts, one is that its SUV model MODELX will be listed this year, its research and development and spare parts purchasing costs remain high The second is that emerging markets, represented by the Chinese market, are difficult and expected to perform.

"Silicon Valley to build cars" encounter problems

"Tesla's competitive advantage has fallen sharply after the competition has been locked into the traditional auto business." The analyst told reporters.

First of all, in the manufacturing system, with the traditional automobile companies have formed a scale effect, low market sales lead to Tesla's high manufacturing costs, and in the absence of large-scale product testing in the background, the components and assembly level is difficult to upgrade. More importantly, the spirit of the Internet to break through the traditional manufacturing of Tesla, in a variety of industry standards repeatedly "hit the wall."

Second, in the inventory system, a source told reporters, and the traditional car inventory cost is lower, the new Energy vehicle computer system needs to be regularly updated to maintain the normal use of its battery system. In accordance with the conventional, hybrid vehicle battery system maintenance cycle of 35 weeks, pure electric vehicle type This cycle is about 6 months. Therefore, the new Energy vehicle inventory cost is higher than the traditional car.

In addition, in the sales system, and the traditional car more complete network coverage, Tesla use direct marketing to solve the problem of network coverage, which in its large-scale expansion of the process, is bound to become a barrier to consumer experience.

Data from the foreign media show that Nissan's annual sales volume exceeded 30,000, ranked the top of the U.S. electric car sales, the cumulative sales in 2014 completed 100,000 vehicles. "There is a greater likelihood that electric cars would be the first to become popular at the hearing level." "The analysts believe that Tesla's cheap model MODEL3 will become its next" crack point.

It is believed that the integration of Internet thinking and traditional automobile manufacturing industry is a trend, however how to arouse the potential of Chinese market is a difficult problem to be solved by Musk and its Chinese team.

(Responsible editor: Lvguang)