I've stayed on the sidelines for long enough...
Let me explain to you a small piece of the economics of Tesla's position.
The Model 2 will likely be in production by the spring of 2025. Although some folks are saying it will be a $25,000 car, let's assume one that has a few well chosen options will be closer to $30,000.
If the average buyer makes a 10% down payment, They finance the balance of $27,000. Add tax, tag, title, and registration, and you're looking at around $29,500 on the side. Let's use that for arguments sake.
The average new car loan is 6.58%. Let's again assume a slightly pessimistic uptick in interest rates and have it be 7% for 7 years (the most common loan term in today's market).
What's the monthly payment? $445 a month
The average person drives 13,500 miles a year. Right now the average cost per kWh is 15.47 cents. Let's bump it to 18 cents just to be, again, pessimistic.
If the smaller Model 2 averages 4.5 miles per kWh the electricity cost will be $540 a year.
If the average cost of gas is $3.50 in 2025 (roughly equal to current forecasted costs in 2023) and the gas equivalent of the best selling compact car, the Toyota Corolla, gets 33 mpg, the gasoline cost is $1430 per year. A nearly $900 difference.
So knock off an extra $74 off that $445 a month, and you get an effective monthly cost of $369 a month. $12 a day.
I'm not even counting the $7500 tax credit which may not even be there by the time the Model 2 is launched. Worst case scenario on purchasing costs and fuel, the Tesla Model 2 of a 2025 will actually be cheaper than a Toyota Corolla by 2025. This is assuming a 5% inflation rate on the mid-level SE trim ($27,783 average price by 2025 + $6230 in extra fuel costs over seven years).
Pre-tax credit, the Tesla Model 2 is forecasted to be cheaper to purchase and operate than a mid-level Toyota Corolla.
What the market is betting on is that, at least for the compact car segment, the Tesla Model 2 will be comparable or cheaper than a Toyota Corolla which has been the world's best selling car for decades. This is, again, without taking into account the $7500 tax credit in the USA and the other credits already available in Europe and Asia.
Tesla is the most coveted luxury brand in the industry right now. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, and all other competitors have been absolutely cremated in the areas where Tesla competes. What do you think is going to happen when the most coveted luxury brand starts competing with Corollas, Civics and Jettas? Pretty much what ended up happening to all these other luxury marques. Except this time it will be a lot quicker since Tesla is now a known commodity.
If this happens, all the other automakers globally that can't compete with the best selling Toyota Corolla are going to be in serious trouble. Toyota is a healthy company. They are one of the very few that performs well in all three regions. That's not a small matter. Everyone from VW in Europe to BYD in China have relied on the compact car market as a vital source of profits in their home market. The dozens of brands that are sales laggards will have a far worse reckoning.
Now think of the fact that Tesla will be launching the Cybertruck and a smaller version of the Model Y between now and 2025. If they continue to be as successful in these new segments as the Model S, 3, and Y have become in recent times, Tesla will conservatively be able to achieve around 2.3 to 2.5 million vehicles a year by 2025, and many projections are now assuming they reach close to or at the 3 million mark.
Global sales grew by only 1% between 2021 and 2022, and that is with an unusually large amount of money pumped into the economy along with low interest rates. Now that the global economy is slowing down with a strong increase in interest rate, Tesla increased their quarterly sales total by 83% from a year ago.
Macro events can derail all this. There's no such thing as a guarantee when it comes to the black swan. However right now Tesla is gobbling more sales and revenue growth, along with unbeatable margins. And their competition? Drowning in inferior products, less robust battery systems and much higher legacy costs.
If you don't know why Tesla is valued so highly, consider this a small slice of an even bigger pie Tesla now has in front of them.