Tesla
Opportunities
Weight
Rating
Score
Strong Demand in Europe
Assembling in Netherlands
Battery market
Launched home battery this summer
China, other Asian markets
Struggling to gain traction in China
New Products
More or less on schedule
Other Vehicle development
Nothing in the pipeline
Economic Incentives
Does well
Threats
Low Gas Prices
Gas prices do not affect Tesla demand
Increased competition
Technological superiority
Trade Barriers
China a notable problem
Economic slowdown
Not expected to affect Tesla
Product launch delays
Some minor delays
Charging Station delays
Rollout ok
Whether Tesla is doing well in its industry or not sort of depends how the industry is defined. Among electric car makers, Tesla has demonstrated technological superiority over the past few years. There have been many new entrants, both startups and established car companies, but none have been able to challenge Tesla on technology, so the company has maintained its competitive advantage. It has not yet converted this market share in a way that would make it anything other than a niche vehicle, however. In the context of the overall automobile...
While Tesla has been able to succeed in building its brand in Europe, the company has struggled to gain a foothold in China. There are significant trade barriers, and arguably the greatest competitive threat will come from China, where Tesla lacks any meaningful intellectual property rights protections.
Overall, the company's performance has been strong for a startup, but it is too young and small to be considered a major player in the automotive industry; the hope is that it will be a disruptive player, however, and will be able to maintain its technological leadership in the long run.
New products are the key to the company's growth right now, because Tesla needs to roll out new products in order to build its share, and increase its revenues, which are necessary in light of the high fixed costs. The company has one new vehicle this month, and is expected to launch a mainstream electric vehicle in 2016. How that vehicle compares with the competition will say a lot about what sort of long --run potential the company has versus the major car makers. On the whole, however, there is a lot of good that Tesla is doing. But by no means is the company's track…
