On June 17, Tesla announced that Model S has accumulated a total of 1 billion miles worldwide, or about 1.6 billion kilometers. Among them, the cumulative mileage of the Tesla Model S in the Chinese market has reached 44.73 million kilometers. China's Tesla contribution mileage is less than 3% of the world. To a certain extent, this also shows that Tesla's sales in China are not high.
When entering the Chinese market, Tesla had hoped that the Chinese market could contribute more than 30% of sales to the global business. After all, China is the world's largest auto market and will soon become the world's largest smart car market. But disappointingly, according to Tesla's 2014 financial report, sales in the entire Asia Pacific region accounted for only 15% of Tesla's global sales, about 4,700. In 2014, Tesla sold 31,655 vehicles.
In March 2015, Tesla CEO Musk came to China. Regarding the status quo of the Chinese market, he said at the time: "China is Tesla's only market with excess inventory in the world. We are still digesting stocks. After that, Tesla adjusted the Chinese team and launched the “2015 China Strategyâ€, launching unique services such as “air upgradeâ€, “remote diagnosisâ€, “zero maintenance†and “used car recyclingâ€.
To what extent the “2015 China Strategy†boosted Tesla’s sales, Tesla did not announce. However, all the service models of the “2015 China Strategy†are unique because they are built on Tesla’s “closed ecosystemâ€.
Direct mode Tesla's most obvious closure is in the "direct mode". It is reported that Tesla products are not authorized to be sold by any distributors, distributors, or other third parties. This direct mode allows Tesla to directly target the end consumer, across intermediate links, and provides integrated services from test drive, private customization, delivery to after-sales. Moreover, Tesla can also make the price completely transparent. Take Model S 85 as an example. The price of 734,000 yuan is equal to the sum of US sales price, transportation handling fee, customs duty and value-added tax. The official website of each expense can be checked, and there is no increase in price.
Tesla introduced the Internet marketing model to the automotive sector and introduced the "financial, used car recycling" service not long ago. Tesla and CITIC Bank provide loan services with a down payment of 20% and a loan period of up to 60 months. Consumers are required to pay a minimum down payment of 20%. The service will be gradually implemented in more than 100 cities across the country starting in July. Moreover, eligible customers can choose to sell the Model S to Tesla at a 50% purchase price after three years of picking up the car.
However, the abandonment of a more efficient distribution model made Tesla have to build the entire marketing system. At present, Tesla has built 11 experience stores and service centers in 7 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an and Hong Kong, and is still increasing. These marketing systems can still support Tes. Pull the business. However, according to the Tesla plan, in 2017, Tesla plans to launch the Model 3 with a price of around 300,000 yuan. By then, the price cut will inevitably lead to sales growth, and whether the direct business model will hinder business development, especially unknown.
Moreover, the direct mode has shut out most of the partners, which also makes Tesla have to build all the supporting systems, such as charging piles. To date, Tesla has built hundreds of super-charged piles and 1,300 destination charging stations in China. In addition, Tesla has built home charging piles for 90% of Chinese users free of charge. With Tesla's 502-kilometer long battery life, home charging stations can solve 99% of the user's electricity needs.
Similarly, the charging infrastructure is also closed, and the Tesla charging piles do not provide external services, nor can they use charging facilities built by other companies and institutions. A Tesla engineer said: "At present, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is developing a national unified charging standard. At that time, Tesla can use public charging piles in the form of interface conversion." However, Tesla does not change its charging technology.
In addition, the Tesla application system is not open to the public and cannot be installed with third-party applications. All operational applications are developed by Tesla alone, such as air upgrades, autonomous driving, emergency braking, lane change, weather identification and more.
Closed vs. Open In contrast to Tesla, all other smart car players are in a group mode.
Apple launched iOS in the Car in 2014 to push the iPhone to connect with in-vehicle devices; Google followed suit and formed the Open Auto Alliance with mainstream auto giants. In China, in March 2015, Baidu announced that it will cooperate with a car manufacturer to launch a smart car this year; Tencent signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Foxconn Technology Group and Harmony Automobile on "Internet smart electric vehicle"; Alibaba It will establish a joint venture with SAIC Group to set up a 1 billion yuan Internet car fund and plans to launch a car in 2016. Subsequently, Ali and Shanghai GM signed a strategic cooperation agreement, the two sides will carry out all-round innovative cooperation in the four major areas of automobile big data marketing, auto finance, original after-sales O2O business and used car replacement. Including LeTV, the super car strategy has also been announced.
Although these attempts are dazzling, in Tesla's view, “To be smart cars, you must be a closed ecosystem.†Tesla China Communications Director Tao Rong said that the ecosystem covers core technologies and marketing models. Supply chain system, "all technologies, applications, and products must be controlled in their own systems."
For example, Tesla's mechatronics technology, Tesla is equipped with thousands of custom batteries, and has independently developed a powerful battery main control module, which can accurately monitor the temperature and operation of each battery, any There is a problem with the battery. The system can bypass this battery alone, keeping the entire battery pack safe and improving energy efficiency. “If the battery, module, and operating system come from several companies, it’s so difficult to integrate them.â€
As for cooperation with some payment and applications, Tesla does not seem to have much interest at present. Tao Rong believes: "Commercial cooperation and innovation, the industry has already explored a lot, maybe we will consider it in the future. But first, users need a great smart car."
There is no doubt that Tesla has been regarded by most people as a pioneer in the global smart electric car. However, Tesla's business model is increasingly difficult to replicate.
After all, the burden of personal involvement is obvious. Tesla must spend a lot of money on research and development expenditures, hiring workers, purchasing parts, and deploying production lines. In 2014, Tesla's procurement costs in China reached US$250 million, and it is expected to exceed US$500 million in 2015. The construction of charging facilities is also a huge expense. On June 17, according to US media reports, a series of banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, have injected up to $750 million in Tesla Motors in the form of loans.
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