After spending three hours with the Tesla Model 3 on our First Drive, it was clear that Tesla had built a great electric car. Unfortunately for Tesla, actually producing the Model 3 in meaningful numbers is still a challenge. Manufacturing delays mean only a few hundred can be built per month right now, and Tesla’s goal of building 5,000 per week has been pushed all the way back to the end of the first quarter next year. To the Tesla faithful, though, that’s apparently no big deal.
It’s difficult to figure out exactly how many people have canceled their Model 3 reservations, but Bloomberg reports that when it contacted 20 reservation holders, none of them had canceled their orders. That number isn’t huge, but it’s large enough that you’d think a many-month delay would have led at least one of them to give up. But that’s clearly not the case.
“I just want Tesla to get the Model 3 right, even if it takes them an extra six months,” Model 3 reservation holder Brian Lawley told Bloomberg. “I view any delays as a good thing to make sure that the quality is excellent.”
Unfortunately for Lawley, Tesla’s slow production rate might not be because it wants to ensure excellent build quality. CNBC reports that Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi recently drove the car and found quality control unimpressive. “Fit and finish on the two demo cars we saw – perhaps not surprisingly – was relatively poor,” Sacconaghi wrote. “While we doubt that it would impact (or even be noticed by) most prospective buyers, we do worry that poor overall initial quality could undermine Tesla’s brand and potentially overwhelm its service network.”
Nomura analyst Romit Shah doesn’t believe poor build quality will impact Model 3 sales either. “We believe there is a real passion for the brand,” Shah wrote in a report. “It is bigger than loyalty because much of the enthusiasm comes from people who have never owned a Tesla. The only comparable we see is the iPhone.” Another analyst believes there’s more to the story than brand fanaticism, citing the anticipation that’s built as a result of the open-ended delivery promises and long wait.
In an effort to speed up production, Tesla recently bought Perbix, an automated machine supplier. But based on this initial survey, it sounds like it doesn’t really matter whether Tesla hits its target of 5,000 Model 3s per week or not. The people want their Teslas, and they don’t care how long it takes to get one.
The post Growing Wait Times Don’t Deter Tesla Model 3 Deposit Holders appeared first on Motor Trend.
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