Tesla vs Toyota: The Tale of 2 OEMS in Early 2023, A Glass Cage Of No Motion In Denver

The Automotive Troublemaker w/ Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier

It’s Friday, friends. Today we contrast the operational ongoings of Toyota with Tesla in the first few weeks of 2023. We also talk about a potential mess for local Denver residents as a Carvana parking garage sits empty.

• Tesla has seriously slashed the price on its bestselling Model Y Long range. After a year of, to quote Elon Musk, “embarrassingly high prices”, the company announced a whopping 20% price cut to its most popular Model Y Long Range bringing the price down from over $65k to under 55k.
  • It will now be eligible for the $7500 federal incentive
  • Base Model 3's price was cut $3,000 to $43,990.
  • Starting price for the Model S dropped $10,000 to $94,990
  • Midsize Model X SUV dropped $11,000 to $109,990.
  • NOTE: the 3 row Model Y is considered an SUV (category has an 80k cap)
  • Stock down 4.5% in response to the news

• In contrast to that story, Toyota’s Jack Hollis, Toyota’s executive vice president of sales, is talking about all the pent up demand for Toyotas and Lexus…at their normal prices
  • Dealer Steve Gates, 2023 chairman of the Toyota National Dealer Council, and owner of 11 store group Gates Auto Family, which owns 3 Toyota stores and a Lexus store, told Wards Automotive his Toyota and Lexus inventory has been zero or close to it at the end of most months. “It’s become sort of a point of pride.”
  • One of his stores ended with only 7 vehicles on the lot, a few of them presold.
  • Said pre-orders alone could carry them through the first 6 months of 2023

• After months of convincing a local zoning board, the city of Denver has a brand new, but fully empty, Carvana vending machine although construction ended months ago
  • Some describe it as ‘a parking garage blocking my mountain view’
  • Others compare it to a more expensive wacky waving guy or inflatable gorilla
  • Many are worried the property will be incredibly difficult to redevelop if the company goes bankrupt
  • Also: This is some of the best local news reporting and delivery we’ve ever seen
  • “‘The car vending machine is a really novel idea,’ Wayland said. ‘It's kind of like having a wacky, waving inflatable man in front of a dealership or a giant gorilla. It's just a little bit more costly.’”

Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier
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