
Tesla: Why Betting Against Toyota Was a Bad Idea - xiaoxian_z
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4172190-tesla-betting-toyota-bad-idea
======
andyidsinga
Worth reading - liked the comparison of approaches in the table.

Edit : This was particularly interesting on the toyota side of the table. (
not something that would be immediately obvious to me when the subject is
manufacturing) : 'Allowing workers to quickly tweak and improve processes.
Toyota can in turn quickly change production schedule based on the latest
sales trends."

The 'latest trends' part seems to really take advantage of human flexibility
relative to machines - love this.

Corollary : I've always wondered to myself: if there are such delays in model
3s, and I ordered one 3 years ago based on a design I liked then, when its
finally delivered I've got a brand new 3 year old car. How does Tesla deal
with that stale factor?

~~~
rtkwe
> Corollary : I've always wondered to myself: if there are such delays in
> model 3s, and I ordered one 3 years ago based on a design I liked then, when
> its finally delivered I've got a brand new 3 year old car. How does Tesla
> deal with that stale factor?

How much have car designs actually changed in the last 3 years though? Most
brands have a few different models but the changes inside a particular model
line don't happen that often.

~~~
andyidsinga
This is true - models will go for several years. The question is what are the
affects of incremental updates that could affect manufacturing.

Similarly, what does one approach vs the other (toyota vs tesla) have on the
boundaries on when large changes in models _can_ be made.

If the company must do pre-orders, as the post claims are required for Tesla,
it seems that will affect the boundaries for new models vs what is required to
fill existing orders. (I assume Tesla wouldn't just ship a user a new model
when their previously ordered old model is still in the pipeline)

------
sunstone
Tesla (and Musk) have had plenty of experience making cars the 'Toyota way'
with the Model X and S. If they've decided on a different strategy now for the
Model 3 they likely perceive that there's now a different market reality in
play (possible extended product scarcity due to limited battery supplies) and
they've changed strategy accordingly. Will this work out? It very well might.

