I don't think the target market (or at least the people actually buying them) are necessarily the same people who would have bought 7 series, S class, and A8s. At least for the BMW & M-B, the demographics skew toward older, more conservative buyers (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732423510457824...). Tesla, I suspect, is getting the folks who previously bought Priuses to make a statement, or who would otherwise be looking at M3/5 BMWs or AMG M-Bs.
