Analysis of the Vision, Guidance, and Strategies of the Tesla Company

Tesla has come a long way from its days before Elon Musk. When Musk joined Tesla he not only became the CEO, he became the face and voice of the company. He has provided the vision and guidance for the company that has led to the success that it has seen in the market. Moreover, Musk has transformed an ill-viewed concept of electric vehicles, into a flourishing, respected, and desirable automobile. He continues to advance his company and its technology at a rapid pace. Where they were once trailing the traditional car manufacturers, they now look at Tesla’s offerings in an attempt to emulate their concepts.

Tesla has encountered its share of growing pains, in its attempt to gain a foothold in the automotive industry. Their issues include manufacturing delays and quality control complaints that are still outstanding today. As many of these continue to be resolved, they have marred their reputation, and cast doubt in their abilities to reach full production scale.

While BMW has remained a consistent, reliable brand in the automobile industry, Tesla is gaining momentum as a young company, competing against a large scale of experienced manufacturers. The accessibility of BMWs dealerships far outnumber those of Telsa with 330 BMW dealerships compared to 96 for Tesla, nationwide. This allows customers to easily test drive vehicles and drive a car off the lot. In addition, customers can schedule service appointments and drive right into the dealership or those authorized to inspect BMW. Due to the sophistication and technical nature of the Tesla vehicles, the limitation on those who can work on their cars is high. Only Tesla can work on them. Tesla’s challenges include the dynamics by which vehicles are sold, the growth of the charging stations, and the sophistication of their vehicle technology.

There are several recommendations that we believe Tesla can benefit from. First, they need to address their quality control issues. While this may impede their rate of production, they can establish a validated method of reviewing their manufacturing process necessary for quality control. In the long run, this will benefit not only the employees, but it will make the customer happy as well. Second, they must continue to innovate on the software components of the vehicle. This will further differentiate themselves from the other automobile makers that have traditionally focused on the hardware of the vehicle and its driving performance. Tesla can continue to be a market leader through continuous investment in their autopilot/driver assist technology. Lastly, Tesla can continue to utilize social media avenues to promote and market their vehicles. Social media applications like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, were virtually non-existent 10 years ago, but Tesla has capitalized on its followers and post sharing to gain exposure and brand awareness using this media.

Tesla is a very young company that has already made its mark in the automobile industry. Tesla has set a high standard for competitors by successfully developing a range of all-electric, high performance vehicles, that have no carbon footprint. Although Elon Musk is very outspoken, he has brought free marketing value and brand promotion worldwide. We see Tesla as a company that will continue to flourish and advance the electric vehicle industry for years to come.