That wasn't THE article, but it says substantially the very same thing.
VW EV sales tops Tesla in Germany
- Thread starter TheLastWord
- Start date
I am going to disagree with you here. I am coming up on 1 year with my ID.4 in ~3.5 weeks and ~8000 miles wheel time with a few regional road trips mixed in and I absolutely adore it, this is my 6th VW since my '03 Golf TDI and my 2nd electric VW so I have experienced a little bit of all the generations from MKIV-MKVII. The electric VW's have been the most reliable (knock on wood) and the most fun to drive of every other VW I have owned before that. The VW EV's are pretty much 50/50 weight distribution vs the 60/40 typical of the ICE cars - my eGolf handled like it was on rails, it leaned quite a bit but it just hung on and took curves like a champ.
Now I will say there is a learning curve for the infotainment but once you have a day or two behind the wheel its just fine, just test driving you will be overwhelmed trying to figure everything out. This is literally most cars - if I hopped in your Tesla tomorrow (I have never been in or driven one) I am sure there would be a day or two learning curve as well.
I get it, I’ve driven one. My only problem is how I see the brand. My wife and I both agreed it was nice and it would have worked for us. We ordered one. We just didn’t find its driving dynamics to be exciting, but we would have had it if delivery times weren’t so long at the time. VWs infotainment while useable is a regression in operation compared to the last. I don’t like it in the new Golf either. To be fair I wouldn’t buy any of their other SUVs either, but my image of VW of a fun small car brand is almost dead. I’ll readily admit it’s a me problem. The ID.4 was going to be for my wife and she picked it out. After she drove the Tesla she no longer wanted to consider the VW. She found it more fun to drive. For me I don’t have any interest in a crossover or non performance oriented vehicle and this is both. It’s not an overall bad vehicle, it’s a poor fit for my tastes.
Yeah, but sometimes dealing with union costs its not as black and white I would think. Only time can tell the future, sometimes the media darling is blown out of proportion as Tesla continues to lose USA market share in the EV market.
In total vehicle sales Tesla does a fraction of what GM sells in the USA, as an example, Chevy sells more pickup trucks in the USA than all Tesla models combined, actually so does Ford. I have nothing against Tesla I just keep things in perspective, no one on planet earth knows what will happen when GM's full car lineup contains EVs. So I dont understand the knock on the legacy makers, they actually produce cars that Americans want.
Im not talking about our good friends in China where 50% of Tesla sales take place. This is the USA we live in, it's kind of like saying Honda VS Harley Davidson in the USA. One can say Honda sold 18 MILLION motorcycles in 2022 and Harley Davidson sold less than 200,000 but the Hondas are mostly mopeds.
Yet Harley sells roughly the same amount of heavy weight bikes in the USA as all other motorcycle manufacturers combined.
It's way, way too soon to know what will happen in the next decade other than the speculation, which is fun in here but void of facts because it didnt happen yet.
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GM may be selling more pickup trucks in the US than Tesla sells all of their models but the ongoing issue is that GM and Ford as well are barely making enough profit on their ICE vehicles to stay afloat. That means that they have precious little resources to devote to EV development. And I don't see that changing much in the next several years.
In the meantime Tesla is still several years ahead with their technology and are making enough profit each quarter with their relatively low sales volume that they don't need to borrow to fund new factories and do expensive R&D. I saw a recent interview with Elon and he stated that the number one and number two companies that recent engineering graduates want to work for are Space X and Tesla. The number of applicants they are getting is staggering. Who wants to work for GM or Ford ???
We don't know what will happen when GM's full car lineup contains EV's. But unless Mary Barra finds the world's largest pot of gold at the end of a rainbow somewhere and does it soon, one of two things will likely happen. The first is that it GM will release medicore and poorly designed and engineered EV's just to "have something" on the dealer lots, and the other is it will be a decade or more until they figure out how to build good EV's. And where will Tesla be by 2025 or so ?
Ford will likely mirror that situation. Good luck to both of them.
In the meantime Tesla is still several years ahead with their technology and are making enough profit each quarter with their relatively low sales volume that they don't need to borrow to fund new factories and do expensive R&D. I saw a recent interview with Elon and he stated that the number one and number two companies that recent engineering graduates want to work for are Space X and Tesla. The number of applicants they are getting is staggering. Who wants to work for GM or Ford ???
We don't know what will happen when GM's full car lineup contains EV's. But unless Mary Barra finds the world's largest pot of gold at the end of a rainbow somewhere and does it soon, one of two things will likely happen. The first is that it GM will release medicore and poorly designed and engineered EV's just to "have something" on the dealer lots, and the other is it will be a decade or more until they figure out how to build good EV's. And where will Tesla be by 2025 or so ?
Ford will likely mirror that situation. Good luck to both of them.
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Elon's answer is that they are putting maximum resources towards where the highest demand is. At this moment,Elon. Wheres my autonomous Cybertruck
?
The Cybertrucks will (finally) start delivery in the next few weeks. An easy and cheap shot to criticize the delay. But it simply was a matter of priorities.
Autonomous driving ? Be patient. It will be here soon enough. In the meantime Tesla is gathering billions of bits of data with more every day and every mile that their EV's are being driven. No other company that has or is considering any type of autonomous driving system is even close.
I'm betting on Elon's plan to sell or license their autonomous driving software to all other auto manufacturers at some point.
They will all have to admit that they lack the resources to develop their own and will just bite the bullet and pay Elon.
I have been wrong before. But not often. But I guess it's just as easy to be a hater as it is to be optimistic.
Elon
If it’s going to be autonomous then this is all you need.
Cheap shot? *LOL* no sane person on earth would agree with you. YEARS behind schedule. Come on already.
Last but not least, Tesla late to the party
Autonomous driving already exists, two companies run driverless taxi's in San Fransisco 24 hours a day. Maybe you're mistaken? Maybe those two companies will license their software to Tesla?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/news...riverless-taxis-are-slowly-becoming-a-reality
and GM MORE than one city =
https://waymo.com/
Waymo is semi autonomous driving because it can only work inside pre mapped zones.
You cannot select a destination outside of a geofenced area.
I plan to keep my MK7 GTI indefinitely. As long as I can get parts.
That doesn’t sound right.
GM’s profit margin on full-sized ICE trucks and SUVs is now past $10,000. GM’s Arlington Texas plant is considered by some to be the most profitable auto plant in the world. They make Suburban, Escalade, Tahoe and Yukon.
That’s why they’re still investing in V8s. The profits on these big ICE trucks and SUVs are incredible.
https://www.reuters.com/business/au...mbustion-trucks-suvs-through-2035-2023-06-13/
I'm debating that. I love my Mk7.5 but I sometimes wonder if I should have gotten the manual. I got the DSG so my wife would have an easier time driving it and as far as twin clutch transmissions go it's excellent, I do enjoy it. I think if I buy another though before it goes EV I'll try and go manual. Many have made the point though that this car was obviously designed with the DSG in mind and has better spaced gear ratios too. Regardless of transmission choice they're great cars.
The grey 40th Anniversary at my dealer just sold, but they have a new silver Autobahn on the lot. I'll be there monday so I'm definitely going to look at it.
You are referring to USA , I am guessing Germany things differ where article is from.
The fact that the Cybertruck is years behind schedule only matters as grist for the hater's mill.
If it was important to Tesla's prosperity I'm sure resources would have been diverted towards it just as surely as resources for the Cybertruck have been diverted towards the critically important Models 3 and Y.
The delay apparently isn't even important to the over 1.2 million people who have put in pre-orders for Cybertrucks. If it were a big deal I'm sure there would be hue and cry from all those unhappy customers. But I guess for them it is just going to be just a toy and not a primary or work vehicle and they can afford to wait.
I hope a few sane people on earth agree with me. My logic is usually impeccable. Only occasionally not.
If it was important to Tesla's prosperity I'm sure resources would have been diverted towards it just as surely as resources for the Cybertruck have been diverted towards the critically important Models 3 and Y.
The delay apparently isn't even important to the over 1.2 million people who have put in pre-orders for Cybertrucks. If it were a big deal I'm sure there would be hue and cry from all those unhappy customers. But I guess for them it is just going to be just a toy and not a primary or work vehicle and they can afford to wait.
I hope a few sane people on earth agree with me. My logic is usually impeccable. Only occasionally not.
Calling a proposed product launch that was announced to the world years behind schedule "sane" is not impeccable logic.
But if you subscribe to the "logic" make sure you do the same for all other companies.
The Cyber-truck launch is a disaster and doesnt look well for Tesla if they dont get their act together.
Interesting one would suggest "grist for the haters mill" I never thought that of Tesla. Criticism is hate? I think one that thinks and uses those words must look at other products in that way.
But if you subscribe to the "logic" make sure you do the same for all other companies.
The Cyber-truck launch is a disaster and doesnt look well for Tesla if they dont get their act together.
Interesting one would suggest "grist for the haters mill" I never thought that of Tesla. Criticism is hate? I think one that thinks and uses those words must look at other products in that way.
I consider the delay of the Cybertruck more of a disappointment than a disaster. As I said, if the management at Tesla thought it was a disaster they would have directed the resources towards sorting out whatever issues there were and brought it to market sooner.
But just like the so called fit and finish issues that a few people always bring up but don't seem to be a real world issue considering the owner satisfaction ratings, the rather comical delay of the Cybertruck is the usual ammunition that people use who hate Tesla or Elon. It doesn't seem like honest criticism but rather like a talking point that is readily available to use in discussions.
The Cybertruck will be in the hands of consumers soon. And they will be shipping them to those who put down deposits as quickly as they can make them. My impeccable logic also tells me that the new "Model 2" or whatever they will call the lower priced model that will be built at the new Mexico plant won't suffer the kind of delays that the Cybertruck did. Why ? Because it is a high priority for Tesla. While the Cybertruck was not.
But just like the so called fit and finish issues that a few people always bring up but don't seem to be a real world issue considering the owner satisfaction ratings, the rather comical delay of the Cybertruck is the usual ammunition that people use who hate Tesla or Elon. It doesn't seem like honest criticism but rather like a talking point that is readily available to use in discussions.
The Cybertruck will be in the hands of consumers soon. And they will be shipping them to those who put down deposits as quickly as they can make them. My impeccable logic also tells me that the new "Model 2" or whatever they will call the lower priced model that will be built at the new Mexico plant won't suffer the kind of delays that the Cybertruck did. Why ? Because it is a high priority for Tesla. While the Cybertruck was not.