Tesla - Porter Five Forces Analysis (Harvard)

This paper is a strategic analysis of Tesla Motors, Inc.: “How Tesla Motors Inc. can improve its strategy to sustain its competitive advantage on the electric vehicle market and confirm its position as a transformational leader in sustainable lifestyle?”. Tesla Motors was created in 2003 by a group of engineers in Silicon Valley with a vision to create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles. In 2008, Tesla shattered those standards by creating the Roadster, a car capable of traveling 245 miles on a single charge, along with a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds. With a slow growth and declining sales margin within the early release of its “Roadster”, tesla has made a remarkable recovery and has proved that “electric vehicles can be safe, user-friendly usable and reliable to the market. The Model S, an electric luxury sedan, being released in 2012, won Motor trends 2013 car of the year award. It has been the best-selling plug-in electric car for two consecutive years: 2015, 2016. Of the approximate 356,232 electric vehicles around the world today, Tesla accounts for 50,000. It reached a peak of 150000 units sold by November 2016. As of December 2016, it lies best, being second to the Nissan Leaf. The Model S was then followed in September 2015 by the Model X. Tesla’s next vehicle is the Model 3, releasing mid 2017 with a base price of US$35,000, assuming it to be the most-affordable wide-range EV ever released in the industry. All large auto manufactures, other than Toyota (the limited production Rav4e can travel 103 miles per charge), have yet to create an electric vehicle that can travel more than 100 miles on a charge. A seventh of the market share is remarkable for a company started just more than a decade ago. The EV company specializes in lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles and residential-consumer based solar panels, in cooperation with Solar City.