Tesla, which often cuts prices, is often associated with the word "leek". No, some time ago, Tesla bucked the trend and reduced prices under the general price increase of other new energy vehicle companies, and the price reduction reached up to 48,000 yuan.
It is worth mentioning that this is the second time Tesla has cut prices in nearly three months, of which the cumulative price reduction of Model Y long-range models is as high as 93,000 yuan.
However, Tesla's frequent price reductions, although ushering in skyrocketing orders, did not please all consumers. In the face of Tesla's sharp price cut, consumers holding coins for purchase rushed to tell each other, while consumers who had just picked up their cars complained, calling themselves "leeks".
So, Tesla knows that price cuts are thankless for old users, why does it insist on lowering again and again? Did Tesla really lose money to users? Is its price reduction a bad thing for the development of the industry?
In the professor's view, Tesla's strength to reduce prices is its pursuit of cost reduction and unique marketing system, and there is no problem with either of these strictly speaking.
If you want to reduce the price of goods, reducing the cost of commodity production is the most effective way, and Tesla has made a lot of efforts to this in recent years.
At the design level, Tesla models adhere to a minimalist design style, and minimalism itself means reducing the design process.
Secondly, Tesla's innovation in the manufacturing process is also a major magic weapon to reduce costs. For example, Tesla introduced a large die-casting machine in the production of the Model Y, streamlining more than 70 parts on the traditional body structure into one, thereby diluting the manufacturing cost of the new car.
In terms of marketing system, Tesla is completely different from other car companies, and its advertising cost is almost zero. In contrast, the average cost of traditional car companies in this regard is about 3,000 yuan.
This also means that in terms of publicity alone, Tesla's bicycle cost saves about 3,000 yuan compared with traditional car companies.
The ultimate purpose of marketing is sales, and Tesla's direct sales model is also very different from the traditional automotive industry third-party 4S store model. After reducing the role of the 4S store, the middleman to earn the difference, Tesla also directly cut the operating costs of third-party dealers.
Another digression, compared with Tesla's direct sales model with transparent prices, the professor himself is actually quite disgusted with the price system of traditional 4S stores "thousands of people and thousands of faces".
In the vast majority of 4S shops, the purchase price of each customer is a trade secret. Even if two people buy the same car in the same 4S store on the same day, their purchase price is different.
The professor had work experience in a 4S shop a few years ago, and that experience changed my perception of the automobile sales industry. In extreme cases, the cost of different people to buy the same car may differ by thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan.
For those customers who place orders without much haggling, we even jokingly refer to them as "water fish".
In addition, the professor bought a total of two cars. In order not to be slaughtered by other sales as "water fish", the professor looked at nearly ten models before buying a car, and bargained with sales consultants of different brands at least 20 times in the showroom of the 4S store.
Compared with the traditional car sales model with deep routines, the professor personally prefers Tesla's simple and transparent price system. In the professor's view, the pricing of a commodity can only be determined by the power of the product, not by the scheming between buyers and sellers.
From the perspective of Tesla users, Tesla has indeed been reducing the cost of buying cars for consumers by reducing costs over the years, and many Tesla consumers have indeed enjoyed the dividends brought by Tesla's price cuts and bought Teslas that are cheaper than a few years ago.
Judging from the endless rights protection incidents that Tesla will have almost every time the price is cut, users will not be satisfied because Tesla cuts prices.
Taking the Tesla Model Y long-range version as an example, Tesla raised the price of this model to 394,900 yuan on June 17, 2022, which is the peak price of this model so far.
For users who bought Tesla during this time, the professor could only applaud them while admiring their investment vision. Because three months later, on October 17, the price of the Model Y long-range version dropped from 394,900 yuan to 357,900 yuan.
This also means that compared with users who purchased the long-range version of Model Y before October 17, users who purchased the same model after October 17 directly saved 37,000 yuan. However, users who purchased the Model Y long-range version on October 17 were also not happy for long.
In January 2023, the Model Y long-range version reduced its price again, this time to 309,900 yuan. In this way, Tesla users who thought they had picked up a big bargain not long ago changed their faces in an instant.
In the professor's view, the logical thinking of Tesla users who regard themselves as "leeks" because Tesla has cut prices is really absurd. Most people don't know how to be satisfied, and what upsets activist consumers is purely because they just bought a relatively cheap Tesla, but missed the cheaper Tesla.
Many users who have been reduced prices go to Tesla to defend their rights under the banner of "Tesla defrauding consumers", but does Tesla really cheat consumers? In fact, Tesla has 100% discretionary pricing power in the matter of price reduction, and the so-called fraud naturally cannot be mentioned.
If we enlarge the pattern a little more, from the perspective of the market, Tesla is actually a solitary company, and its price reduction is not strictly for consumers to buy cars at a lower cost.
The ultimate goal of Tesla's price reduction is to quickly devour the market at low prices, leaving other competitors with nowhere to go. When Tesla's price reduction threatens the survival space of other car companies, other car companies either cut prices like Tesla, or improve product strength to win with quality.
Whether it is a collective price reduction for all new energy vehicle companies, or winning by improving product strength with quality, this can directly promote the development of the industry, and consumers will become the biggest winners in this game between car companies and car companies.
In the eyes of Tesla users who are defending their rights, I can buy a cheaper car, but this must be the cheapest car.
However, in fact, all Tesla fans who know a little about Tesla know that Tesla is far from the "cheapest", and through price reduction will be the main means for Tesla to harvest orders in the past two years.
At least until Tesla reaches the cost bottleneck, there are only cheaper Teslas, not the cheapest Teslas.
If users who buy cars because of Tesla's price reduction cannot recognize this and correct their mentality early, then the next batch of rights protection "leeks" is likely to be them who are happy because of Tesla's price cut.