Tesla Motors Products - Essay Example

? Tesla (Eectrocar) of the of the Part Industry Profile Industry Data Tesla Motors Products. Tesla Motors Inc. is a popular automobile company that is based on California. The company primarily engages in producing, designing and manufacturing electric cars. The firm also engages in mechanizing power-train components of electric vehicles. Over time global car consumers are becoming more aware about environment protection and preservation. Soaring air pollution all across the world have made individuals conscious about using traditional vehicles. The use of electric cars is increasing in all economies in the current epoch. A battery stored electrical energy or electric motor helps to run the contemporary electric cars manufactured by Tesla Motors. The modern electric cars produced by Tesla comprises of efficient electric motors that facilitates in generating torque. Torque helps to generate smooth and strong acceleration to such cars. The Tesla electric cars are considered to be the safest cars in the automobile market. There are many car models of Tesla:- Model S: a 7 seating electric car generating no emissions. 265MI EPA range of certification. 4.2 sec, 0-60 (acceleration). Model X: comprising of a dual motor, one of the motors is well equipped to work well in all road and climatic conditions, generating a torque of 50%. 5 sec, 0-60 (acceleration). It has a 60 or 85 kWh powered battery. The model uses does not uses any gasoline. The firm has planned for its new designed electric car, Model X Design Prototype, the car would be launched for sale from 2014 and its price would be that of Model S. All the products of Tesla are eco friendly and unique in style (Teslamotors, 2013). Other Large Competitors. Vehicule Electriques Pininfarina Bollore, BYD Auto, Nissan and Renault are four giant automobile companies that have launched excellent models of electric cars. Such cars symbolize class, status and environmental consciousness of the users. SIC Codes. The Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC) of the automobile industry in United State is 37111. Trade Magazines and Labor Unions. The automobile firms like Tesla require large number of laborers for its manufacturing, operational, marketing and retail outlets. Several trade magazines have talked about the good virtues of the automobile industry facilitating high employment generation. However, it should also be considered that when the number of employees in an industry is high, the bargaining power of the workers rises. Labor union leaders ensure interests of the employers in the workplaces. It has been empirically observed that the strong labor unions of the automobile market in U.S. have compromised the competitive powers of the companies in the global market. In the last thirty years it has been found that the labor union leaders have forced American firms to increase the level of trade barriers. Labor unions have made U.S. automobile companies lose their market shares to the foreign rivals. The labor unions demand for high wages from the companies. Delphi pays $76/hr to its workers. It is estimated that in every car sales of a company in U.S., the labor union achieves a benefit of $2000. Sometimes the big automobile companies like Ford have ceased some of its operating plants for pricy labor costs (Teslamotors, 2013). Figure 1: U.S. Auto Labor Markets (Source: Author’s Creation) The above graph shows the U.S. auto market, high intervened wages rates set by the labor unions reduce the quantity of car produces and increases the cost prices. It generates a deadweight loss into the industry. Imports and Exports. Despite of the disturbances of labor unions, U.S. auto industry enumerated a surplus trade balance from 2010 to 2011. The aggregate imports and exports of cars across the world on average in U.S. have increased. The percentage change in imports is 12.4% and percentage change in exports is 17.9%. On total, aggregate sales have increased and have changed by 7%. However, when regional disparities are concerned, it is found that the gross automobile trading in South America (Brazil) have reduced by -20.7%. But in North America (Mexico), aggregate automobile trade balance has increased by 12.9% and in Canada it has again fallen by -16.6% (KPMG, n.d.). Competitors of Tesla. Ford is a potential competitor of Tesla electric cars. The auto-makers of Ford have analyzed that it is worthwhile to enhance the design and quality their own electric cars in the lucrative market of U.S. Ford has increased its sales by 288% in 2013, where it has sold 8292 electric cars in the U.S. market. General Motors (GM) Company is also a potential competitor of Tesla, the company has announced to vie Tesla. The company has decided to launch a new electric car that would have a mileage of 200 miles and would only cost $30000. The GM Company has claimed that this well priced affordable car would be able to park large pool of consumers that the pricy cars of Tesla worth $71000 would fail to do (Marchionne, 2009). Complementary Products. The Tesla Company has taken an active initiative to join hands with the biggest installer of solar energy in U.S., Solar City. The two companies have decided to share their technologies. The Tesla electric cars are said to recharge their car batteries with the help of SolarCity solar panels while SolarCity is now leasing and selling ‘home energy storage system’ that are based on battery technologies provided by Tesla Motors. Ownership Trends. The table below shows the ownership trends of Tesla Motors: Type of Enterprise Ownership Control of Business Publicly Traded Company Shareholders; as the company is listed in the NASDAQ (American Stock Exchange). By the directors of the company and the employed officials. Headquarters of the company is in Palo Alto, California, USA. Technological Developments. Electric cars though are blessed with exclusive design and safety, are high end cars. The global economy is in recessionary pressure, when most of economies in the world are facing severe financial crisis. Tesla cars are the most expensive electric cars in the automobile industry. The company is trying to invent a new and modern battery model for its cars. It is believed that the newly launched batteries would reduce the prices of the existing batteries and would lower the prices of the electric cars of Tesla. Tesla has also recently invented the metal air batteries. These batteries do not have all the reactants stored in it. Some of the materials that the battery requires for electricity generation are taken from the air. Further, the company does not use custom made battery casings, they use common battery casings. The company is constantly upgrading its technology to reduce its cost and enhance its car qualities. Government Regulations. The federal and state governments have given direct concessions in the form of subsidies worth $10000 to the electric cars buyers. The government of U.S has established the organization of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that sets several restrictions on the different automobile companies in U.S. The U.S. government has realized that the automobile industry contributes a lot to the economic prosperity of the country. Thus, it provides several subsidies and tax concessions to the electric cars producing companies like Tesla. The government forecasts the future employment rates, tax revenues etc by observing the performance of the automobile companies. The large number of patents that the U.S. government offers to the automobile companies like Tesla motivates the companies to invest more in costly innovations. Major Markets. Tesla electric cars are eco-friendly, but costly vehicles. Previously the target markets of the company were the rich developed economies in the world. However, with time this has changed and the company now targets the growing middle classes in the emerging economies in the world like China, Russia, etc. However, rich happy nations in Europe like Norway, Scotland etc are the established niche markets of the company (GOV, 2010). Part 2: Chronological Order of Current Events in Automobile Industry since 2000. Events Date The electric cars producing companies are trying to provide more powers in the cars and lower the selling prices. April 25, 2013. Porsche, the popular German car producer decides to upgrade the design, model and functions of its high end cars to tap more affluent customers. May 24, 2013. BMW claims that its electric car ‘i3’ is going to be a potential model in the automobile industry. July 15, 2013. The popularity of electric cars is expected to rise in U.S. over the time significantly. August 2, 2013. American cars are becoming cleaner in terms of emissions and becoming climate friendly. August 10, 2013. The federal government introduces gas mileage rules on the hybrid cars. August 15, 2013. Economy and serenity comes along together when hybrid cars are now run via gas but not electricity. August 16, 2013. Stock prices of Tesla are rising as the company launches the excellent red colored Model S. The new design seems to park more customers for the company. August 24, 2013. The Frankfurt Automobile show: displaying modern Mercedes S class cars that run with minimum human intervention. A mark of supreme technological innovation. September 15, 3013. Johnson controls have introduced a dual voltage system for the mold hybrid cars. September 23, 2013. Source Matrix. Electric Cars Technology used in Electric cars Existing Industry Competition Growing revenue of the Automobile Companies The requirement for Electric Cars Government Regulations Contribution of the Automobile Industry in the Economy Official website, (Teslamotors, 2013). PDF, (KPMG, n.d.) (Mom, 2004). PDF, (OECD, n.d.) Official website, (Teslamotors, 2013) Online Article,(Gerbeau, 2002) PDF, (Marchionne, 2009). Industry Flow Chart Graphical Interpretation Figure 2: Growing Employment Generation in Automobile Industry (Source: DOL, 2013) In the early year of the 20th century, the gross employment generation in the automobile industry had fallen, but after 2009 onwards the automobile industry in U.S. has employed large labor forces. It indicates that the industry is expanding and augmenting its production. Figure 3: Automobile Companies Market Share in U.S. (Source: Cain, 2012) The above pie diagram shows that the automobile industry in U.S. is highly competitive in nature. Market share of any company is not more than 20%. Figure 4: Growing Sales of Electric Cars in U.S. (Source: Livegreen, 2013) The above bar diagram shows that the retail segment of electric car companies are achieving higher returns as the sales of such cars are increasing with time. References Cain, T. (2012). October 2012 United States Auto Sales by Brand. Retrieved from http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2012/11/usa-october-2012-auto-sales-brand-rankings.html. DOL. (2013). Auto Recovery Blog. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/autocommunities/blog.htm . Gerbeau, P. (2002). Lifecycle of the car industry. Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management/management/business-studies/lifecycle-the-car-industry. GOV. (2010). Demographics. Retrieved from http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/economy/demographics/ KPMG. (n.d.). Self-driving cars: The next revolution. Retrieved from https://www.kpmg.com/US/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/self-driving-cars-next-revolution.pdf. Livegreen. (2013). Electric Car Update Spring 2013. Retrieved from http://www.livegreen.cc/blog/. Marchionne, S. (2009). Prospects for the auto industry: From chapter 11 to chapter 1. Retrieved from http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/marchionne1209.pdf. Mom, G. (2004). The electric vehicle: Technology and expectations in the automobile age. Maryland: JHU Press. OECD. (n.d.). The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/eco/outlook/44089863.pdf. Teslamotors. (2013). The safest car in America. Retrieved from http://www.teslamotors.com/. Read More