What do German car manufacturers think about Tesla?

What do German car manufacturers think about Tesla? I want to give a partial answer to this question from my modest point of view. Of course, this is not the official opinion, and of course there is not THE opinion. The German car manufacturers have hundreds of thousands of employees, and per employee there is at least one opinion as f(t, know-how, experience, personal interests, etc.).

Here are some inside stories, of course in anonymous form:

1. I'm sitting in a meeting with an automobile manufacturer, we're still at the beginning of small talk. The customer asks if I came with the Tesla and if everything worked out. I say "Yes, of course. Everything's fine. Even if I'm sure that heads would have rolled in your company if a car with such a gap size had left the factory." I wink at the customer and grin because I know that "perfect gap size" is particularly important in his company. He looks at me seriously: "Yes, I know what you mean. But to be honest: we have evolved further. We had to learn that gap size is not everything. The figures are clear-cut. Tesla is a clear competitor for us. We have to keep up!

2 A friend of mine is project manager at a German premium manufacturer. At dinner I asked him what he thinks about the Model 3. His answer: "Of course we already had it with us and disassembled it into individual parts. The thing that worries me is that I haven't found anyone who hasn't said “it’s a great car” yet. “And they have the XYZ converter technology in them." I say, "Ok, I'm not an electrical engineer and can’t make a final assessment. Do you think that's the future?" "That's not the point. We've been discussing whether we should test it for 1.5 years. And they have it in series!! We talk and do PowerPoint presentations. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up by 2023..."

3. My former boss answered to one of my mails with the words "You are invited to drive to our appointment with the Tesla. But you should know: We will do everything we can to make sure that you don't have to drive Tesla again in the future". :-)

And last but not least: I happened to meet a professor at the Hanover Fair. I was at a stand, wanted to say goodbye to an old acquaintance and he asked: "Ah, you are Mr. Wenger! I always read your email blog. It is always a source of amusement for us". I thank him kindly for the nice words, we talk about all possible things and about my emails. Then he says that I shouldn’t buy a Tesla again in the future. I react understandingly, but also ask for forgiveness, because my readers love the Tesla mails. He says: "Yes and I always get angry when I get one! Such a bad car!” Aha. Interesting. I asked how he came up with that? "Look at the quality of the workmanship! The gap sizes! The driving dynamics! If you know something about cars, you immediately notice that the Tesla is no good! You should buy the new EQ from Daimler or the e-tron from Audi. THOSE are good cars!”

That’s an opinion as well. I thank him for that and point out that I have an appointment with the latter and therefore have to leave. We decide to talk about the topic over a coffee and that he should find me some top interns. Let's see what happens.

Conclusion: There are many opinions. And that's a good thing. You can read more about it in future emails.

Best regards,

David Wenger

PS: I also really liked what an employee said during inspection of the interior of the Tesla: “"Is that still a gap or is that already considered a shelf?” :-) :-) :-)