Tesla and South Africa... How do we make it happen?

richjdavies said:
Yeh. And in 1990 you could have said why would Vodacom setup there's a total of 100 car phones sold, it's all land lines.
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The reality is all those brands aren’t JUST selling EV’s so they have the potential of thousands of cars and years of runway to support them.

Tesla only has EV’s meaning they will sell at a maximum a 100 cars a month and then need to support them and sell them across the country.

And then put a whole network in for them.

It just doesn’t make sense as a business model.
 
Actually... Being a bit sarcastic about the Suzuki. Hadn't realised the top model was hilux, then Ranger then Suzuki swift. Starting to realise why so many Hiluxs are sold, they seem to be only 300-500k. That's like half the price they are in other countries...

Things like Fortuners or Volvos. You see a lot of them in the cities of SA. They are R1m plus it's those kind of semi luxury soccer mum cars I think could be ripe for a bit of market share gain.

Anyone know where to get volumes by models past the top 10?
 
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SauRoNZA said:
Tesla only has EV’s meaning they will sell at a maximum a 100 cars a month and then need to support them and sell them across the country.
Click to expand...

The manufacturing is where the scale is. And Tesla sold more model Ys than any other model in the world last year. So the argument that EVs are niche simply doesnt stand up to facts. There are reasons for EV sales to be slower in SA than other countries (load shedding, taxes etc.) but the biggest problem is only bad models that don't sell well anywhere are sold.

The mini copper EV sells in small numbers everywhere because its crap...
 
Haha...

Oops
www.sagoodnews.co.za

Here comes Tesla, South Africa - The Home Of Great South African News

by SouthAfrica.info Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors will open a South African office this month, which will be managed by Evan Rice, the chief executive of GreenCape, an organisation formed to help develop the market for renewable energy in Western Cape. The South African Tesla operation will start off...
www.sagoodnews.co.za
 
richjdavies said:
Actually... Being a bit sarcastic about the Suzuki. Hadn't realised the top model was hilux, then Ranger then Suzuki swift. Starting to realise why so many Hiluxs are sold, they seem to be only 300-500k. That's like half the price they are in other countries...

Things like Fortuners or Volvos. You see a lot of them in the cities of SA. They are R1m plus it's those kind of semi luxury soccer mum cars I think could be ripe for a bit of market share gain.

Anyone know where to get volumes by models past the top 10?
Click to expand...

You seem a little out of touch with Hilux pricing...

The cheapest Hilux is R400k, the top Hilux touches R1million.

Where did you get this R300k to R500k figure, a 2012 Car magazine?
 
richjdavies said:
The manufacturing is where the scale is. And Tesla sold more model Ys than any other model in the world last year. So the argument that EVs are niche simply doesnt stand up to facts. There are reasons for EV sales to be slower in SA than other countries (load shedding, taxes etc.) but the biggest problem is only bad models that don't sell well anywhere are sold.

The mini copper EV sells in small numbers everywhere because its crap...
Click to expand...

EV’s as a whole are less than 1% here.

It’s not far more than niche it’s basically non-existent.

And don’t get me wrong I’m ready to jump on the EV wagon but until the bullshit taxes go away and the pricing aligns to the rest of the world I’m not being a martyr for the cause.

All other EV’s are sold by manufacturers that do many other things here, they can afford to support the niche as they don’t need to build a business around to.

Tesla can not do that.
 
Mannydefreitas said:
So what Toyota SA would call "a slow Tuesday lunch hour"
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I think in general you may overestimate the number of new cars sold in SA each year. Toyota sold only 60,296 units in 2023. Most popular were hilux bakkies (and possibly quantums!) not carollas!
That's across 200 dealerships.
So an average dealership sold only 300 cars in a year. So... One, yes, ONE per day...

Tell me again how this couldn't sustain a dealership!?!
 
Mannydefreitas said:
You seem a little out of touch with Hilux pricing...

The cheapest Hilux is R400k, the top Hilux touches R1million.

Where did you get this R300k to R500k figure, a 2012 Car magazine?
Click to expand...
www.news24.com

No new Hilux model, but Toyota adds extra features to SA's most popular bakkie range | Life

Toyota has added several new features to its Hilux models across the range to keep SA's most popular bakkie, well, popular - not that it even needs it. Here's what's new...
www.news24.com www.news24.com

Where did you get your prices from?

I started looking because I had assumed like you they were near a million... But then the top 10 model articles I found mentioned starting from R338k!?! So I went and looked for more...
 
richjdavies said:
I think in general you may overestimate the number of new cars sold in SA each year. Toyota sold only 60,296 units in 2023. Most popular were hilux bakkies (and possibly quantums!) not carollas!
That's across 200 dealerships.
So an average dealership sold only 300 cars in a year. So... One, yes, ONE per day...

Tell me again how this couldn't sustain a dealership!?!
Click to expand...
They make their money after sales. Maintenance plans... Servicing, parts. We don't call them stealerships for nothing.

Teslas have almost zero service requirements.
 
richjdavies said:
Haha...

Oops
www.sagoodnews.co.za

Here comes Tesla, South Africa - The Home Of Great South African News

by SouthAfrica.info Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors will open a South African office this month, which will be managed by Evan Rice, the chief executive of GreenCape, an organisation formed to help develop the market for renewable energy in Western Cape. The South African Tesla operation will start off...
www.sagoodnews.co.za
Click to expand...

While Tesla has no plans to bring the group’s electric vehicles here
Click to expand...
 
richjdavies said:
www.news24.com

No new Hilux model, but Toyota adds extra features to SA's most popular bakkie range | Life

Toyota has added several new features to its Hilux models across the range to keep SA's most popular bakkie, well, popular - not that it even needs it. Here's what's new...
www.news24.com www.news24.com

Where did you get your prices from?

I started looking because I had assumed like you they were near a million... But then the top 10 model articles I found mentioned starting from R338k!?! So I went and looked for more...
Click to expand...

Your link is a year old.

I'd imagine when most people think Hilux they're thinking of the double cabs, not the single cabs. From https://www.toyota.co.za/hilux the cheapest single cab Hilux starts from R356k, whilst the cheapest double cab starts from R524k. The most expensive double cab starts from R1.023m.
 
Sinbad said:
They make their money after sales. Maintenance plans... Servicing, parts. We don't call them stealerships for nothing.

Teslas have almost zero service requirements.
Click to expand...
And again that's why Teslas/EVs are good. I think they could easily find a place between the fancy BMWS and Fortuners and Volvo CXs drive around fancy schools in Cape Town...

Pricey yes. Like the above. But ultimately never have to visit Engen or a dealership again... Very tempting!
 
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