by Jared Levy on June 29, 2010
Shares of Tesla are expected to hit the public stock market today with a $244 million offering. Tesla will be the first American automaker to be listed on a major exchange since Ford Motor, which went public in 1956. But before you get all excited, be sure you do your homework. Keep in mind that Tesla has yet to turn a profit (since its 2003 inception) and is coming to market amidst some serious global economic headwinds, not to mention a very finicky car-buying public.
As a car NUT myself (and having owned many exotics and regular cars alike), I can tell you that the car business is a tough one to break into. Companies like Ford, GM, Toyota (even with its recent issues), Mazda, Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Subaru, Renault, and many others with similar pedigrees hold a firm grip on the average car buyer these days. These companies are established and producing reliable and sometimes pretty sexy cars with vast networks and marketing machines.
So why, especially in times of economic uncertainly, would anyone want to go out and buy a $100,000+ niche car? Tesla basically has two models available now, both in the six-figure range. They both look like Lotus Exiges, just with electric power plants. Personally, I would rather save $30,000 and buy the Evora.
I did the math and at $2.60 per gallon, with the Evora’s mpg rating, driving 10,000 miles per year (probably much less with a specialty car such as this in reality) would cost about $815 in petrol annually. Heck, even if my gas bill hits $2,000, I could drive the Evora for 15 years for free before the fuel savings would justify the additional $30,000 for the Tesla. Granted, there is a market for cool expensive supercars, which I guess the Tesla fits into, but does a “novelty” car company offer real shareholder value?