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Tesla Claims $40M Advance Sales of 2014 Model X Crossover SUV

 
1,708 views Feb 15, 2012
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Tesla Model X

Tesla Model X

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Less than a week after Tesla Motors [NASDAQ:TSLA] unveiled the prototype of its 2014 Model X Crossover SUV at an exclusive event in Los Angeles, the Californian electric automaker has called it the fastest selling Tesla ever. 

According to a press release posted on Tesla’s website yesterday, the company netted over $40 million in advance sales in the 24 hours following the unveiling of the 7-seat electric SUV.

“The compelling nature of the product created massive media attention and resulted in the Model X being the third most searched term on Google,” says the official press release. “On Thursday evening, the night of the reveal, traffic to teslamotors.com increased 2,800 percent. Two-thirds of all visitors were new to the website.”

Tesla also says reservations of its 2012 Model S rose by 30 percent following the Model X unveiling. 

Tesla Model X - Official Debut, Los Angeles, February 2012

Tesla Model X - Official Debut, Los Angeles, February 2012

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Although Tesla claims this is due to the hype surrounding the Model X, we can’t help but wonder if some customers waited until the Model X unveiling before deciding which of Tesla’s electric cars to order. 

For Tesla, the rise in interest is a good thing, especially with its Q4 earnings call scheduled for later today and technically no cars to sell until the 2012 Model S Sedan rolls off the production lines in July. 

But while Tesla is congratulating itself on a mainly positive Model X unveiling, it's important to keep in mind one fact: Advance sales -- otherwise known as reservations -- do not always turn into hard sales, especially when a car's final price and options list have not been published.

And as Nissan has learned in the past, the conversion rate from reservations to actual sales can be as low as 40 percent. 

Let's hope it stays a little higher for Tesla's Model X. 

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Comments (12)

  1. fb_100002544459353 avatar Ramon Leigh Posted: 2/15/2012 11:46am PST

    We know from the Volt experience how customer interest can dissipate, but that was due to GM's lies, misleading claims, and a horrible redesign, none of which has anything to do with the Model X situation. Advanced reservations for Tesla vehicles also involves more customer commitment than was the case with the Volt, whioh amounted to nothing more than expressed interest. The Volt did not allow advanced sales. Tesla advanced sales require at least a $5,000 deposit, which obviously counts for a lot - advance reservations for the Model S, for example, continues to
    climb - it's sold out the first year and at least the first quarter of the following year. Skepticism of Tesla sales prognostications seems totally unwarranted. Tesla delivers.
     
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  2. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 2/15/2012 12:45pm PST

    @Ramon: My two cents would be that it's a tad early to proclaim that "Tesla delivers."

    The company will have delivered 2,600 expensive, hand-built sports cars by the end of this year. That process will have taken about 4 years; Tesla sells at a rate of 50 to 70 Roadsters a month.

    Eighteen months hence, if the Model S has rolled out on schedule and they are building (and SELLING) at a rate of 1,000 cars per month ... then I'm quite happy to say, "Tesla delivers." But that hasn't happened yet.
     
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  3. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 2/15/2012 2:57pm PST

    Ramon is correct, if deliver means presenting an exciting product. They did deliver on their promise to premier the Model X and it sounds like it paid off.
     
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  4. john_v avatar John Voelcker Posted: 2/15/2012 3:16pm PST

    @CDspeed: Well, "presenting an exciting product" is far, far easier than getting that car certified for public sale by U.S. government agencies, ramping up high-quality production, and selling it to customers--as Fisker has found out over the last year.

    In other words, anyone (relatively) can show a sexy concept car. The hard work is to turn it into a saleable vehicle. Tesla is good at the former, but we need to wait 6 to 12 months to determine whether they've done the latter. Which is what counts.
     
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  5. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 2/15/2012 4:48pm PST

    Not to diminish what Tesla has accomplished with the Roadster, but they did use Lotus to do a lot of the heavy lifting. Starting with the Model S, Tesla will now have responsibility for all of the car which increases the likelihood of small problems overwhelming them.
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  6. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 2/15/2012 5:26pm PST

    Even though the Tesla Roadster is more of a limited edition collector car, it did give Tesla some experiance in building and delivering cars to customers. This is an advantage Fisker didn't have. In a way starting with a hand built limited production car was a brilliant move, rather then jumping straight into high volume production. It would probably be better to say, Tesla will deliver.
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  7. Mark Stang avatar Mark Stang Posted: 2/15/2012 1:50pm PST

    I have to admit that John is correct. So far they have only done just over 2100 of the hand built Roadsters. The Model S is intended to be mass produced. Tesla is hoping to sell 20,000 of them in 1 year. That boils done to about 67 cars per day using the 5 day work week. or 1600+ cars per month. I would like to see them do that and become a force to reckon with but compared to what Detroit puts out in 1 day its nothing. However if Tesla does not have enough cars to satisfy the demand of the people who are holding deposits in a timely manor come the summer of 2012 release they could see a loss of good will happening. I would suggest that they have almost all the signature versions ready and a somewhat sizable inventory to sell by July 2012
     
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  8. Mark Stang avatar Mark Stang Posted: 2/15/2012 1:57pm PST

    Correction 2500+ hand built Roadsters. I really hope Tesla can suceed with mass producing the Model S. Once they ramp up production I could see them selling about 20,000 Model S per year since they will have no real competition in the 160+ mile driving range for luxury car segment other than Fisker Karma perhaps.
     
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  9. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 2/15/2012 2:49pm PST

    I've driven the Fisker Karma, trust me it's a sports car that seats four in relative comfort, it's not much of a sport sedan. Like a sports car the Karma has almost no versatility its fun to drive and thats about it, the trunk can barely hold enough luggage for a weekend trip for one person and if you start putting stuff in the back seat you're going to turn it into a two seater. So the only thing you could do with 3 or 4 people in the Karma is drive around town.
     
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  10. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 2/15/2012 2:23pm PST

    Sounds like a snow ball effect, interest in the Roadster got the ball rolling, it got bigger with the Model S, and now interest has only gotten massive with the Model X, when the Gen 3 hits I see Tesla reporting a profit. And I have to admit I was one of those people who waited for the Model X premiere before I made a decision on buying either the S or X. I was hoping that the Model X would have a more aggressive SUV stance and look, but it's a little too people carrier looking for me. So I'm definitely headed for a Model S, it's a beautiful sports sedan with unmatched versatility. And I do like the falcon doors on the Model X, I wish that gull wing and scissor style doors weren't exclusive to super cars so I hope the Model X starts a trend
     
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  11. GreenPowerDP avatar Darin Pendergraft Posted: 2/16/2012 3:53pm PST

    Sorry - but for me, the falcon doors kill an otherwise very attractive design. They should have called this the Model T.
     
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  12. CDspeed avatar CDspeed . Posted: 2/16/2012 5:52pm PST

    Eh who knows maybe the doors won't even make it into production, we're going to have to wait and see what hits the road.
     
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