Tesla Is Doing Much Better Than Headlines Suggest
Three dark-arts PR issues intersect for Tesla and Musk
Tesla and Elon Musk are having a terrible time getting basic, neutral, balanced press coverage. Tesla has achieved enormous results in ramping up its Model 3 production faster than almost any new model car in history. The company is massively outselling its competitors in North America and Europe. It still has hundreds of thousands of $1,000 pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3 (more than any car in history). And now NHTSA testing shows that the #1, #2 and #3 cars with the lowest likelihood of injury in a collision are the Tesla Models 3, X and S in that order.
Teslas continue to win raves from teardown analysts and test drivers. Its autonomous features continue to outperform those of other production vehicles, its market capitalization is 10 times what it was five years ago, and the Model 3 itself is on track to become the fifth or sixth best-selling car in the USA of any make, model, or price point. In a normal world, this string of successes would lead to incredibly positive coverage.
