$$ Provide a concise overview of the case study, including the key issues, findings, and recommendations. Marketing

Tesla describes and sells vehicles primarily through their corporate website but also

through an international network of company$-$owned stores. The company also has built

galleries to educate and inform customers about Tesla products, but the galleries do not

perform actual sales of vehicles. Tesla is also actively engaged in selling used Tesla

vehicles. The Tesla $($and non$-$Tesla$)$ vehicles that the company acquires as trade$-$ins are

subsequently remarketed, either directly by Tesla or through third parties. Tesla

additionally remarkets Tesla vehicles acquired from other sources including lease returns.

Segments

Tesla operates as four reportable segments as follows:

$1.$ Automotive Sales: includes the design, production, sales, and leasing of electric

vehicles, and services and other that includes nonwarranty after$-$sales vehicle

services, sales of used vehicles, and retail merchandise. This segment includes the

Model $3($a four$-$door mid$-$size sedan$),$ the Model Y $($a compact SUV built on the

Model $3$ platform, Model S $($a four$-$door full$-$size sedan, and the Model X $($a midsize SUV with seating up to seven$).$

$2.$ Automotive Leasing: includes all Tesla leases to Hertz and other companies and

individuals.

$3.$ Services and Other: includes various financing options and leasing, insurance,

and loan options for its vehicle and solar customers.

$4.$ Energy Generation and Storage: includes the design, production, installation,

sales, and leasing of solar$-$energy generation and energy$-$storage products and

related services and sales of solar energy systems incentives.

Tesla$$s revenues by product segment are provided in Exhibit $3.$ Note the dramatic

increases year$-$over$-$year. Tesla$$s gross profit by segment is provided in Exhibit $4.$ Note

dramatic increases year$-$over$-$year

Tesla$$s revenues by geographic region are provided in Exhibit $5.$ Note the United States,

then China, and then all other countries are reported categories for the revenues. Note

the dramatic increases in $2021$ across all regions.

Tesla has many competitors within its Automotive segment, and many different rival

firms in its Energy Generation and Storage segment. Tesla$$s automotive industry

competitors include Rivian, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, BMW Group, Ford Motor

Company, Audi, General Motors, and Lexus. A recent study compared Tesla on nine

management and marketing variables with five of its automotive competitors and

reported the findings provided in Exhibit $8.$ Note that Tesla ranks first on three

variables, including CEO effectiveness. As indicated by the low sum score of $24$ in column

$10,$ Tesla ranks second best overall behind BMW$.$

Tesla is compared to Ford Motor and General Motors. Note that Tesla has

far fewer employees than Ford or GM but has a much larger market capitalization

The transformation globally and in the United States to electric vehicles $($EVs$)$ is

accelerating, growing $88$ percent in $2021$ alone, but still only $3\mathrm{.}2$ percent of automobiles

sold in the United States in $2021$ were all$-$electric, according to the automobile research

firm Motor Intelligence. Car companies have a long ways to go to convince consumers to

abandon gasoline$-$powered vehicles. Big percentage increases are easy to showcase when

you are working with small numbers as the basis.

A pivotal article published in the Wall Street Journal $($January $10,2022,$ pp$.$ A$1,$ A$4)$

provided numerous facts that summarize the nature of the EV industry. Dozens of new

EV models and vehicle types are being released by a dozen automobile manufacturers in

$2022$ alone. Intensity of competition is heating up in this industry. Ford$$s new all$-$electric

F$-150$ Lightning is being released Spring $2022$ and just the announcement launched Ford$$s

stock price significantly. And the new battery$-$powered GM Chevy Silverado truck is to be

released March $2023,$ along with what GM$$s CEO Mary Barra says will be $10$ new GM EVs

within two years.

Stellantis is the global automaker than owns Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, and other auto brands.

Stellantis announced in January $2022$ that the $100-$year$-$old Chrysler brand will go

exclusively electric by $2028.$ Stellantis is also set to sell electric vans to Amazon, as rival

start$-$up Rivian Automotive is doing. In total in $2022,$ the aforementioned Wall Street

Journal article says $22$ new EV models will be released, followed by $27$ in $2023,24$ in $2024,$

and $15$ in $2025.$