Re:G.M. Wants to Drive the Future of Cars That Drive Themselves
by twblalock on Sunday June 11, 2017 @02:18PM
(#14533046)
I don't understand the negativity either.
It's very, very difficult to build a successful car company, especially one that can produce affordable cars at scale.
The technology for self-driving cars will become commoditized, just as the technology behind smartphones did. When that happens, it will be the companies like GM, Ford, VW, and Toyota that produce self-driving cars that people can afford at large scale.
Tesla wants to join that club, but their production scale is not anywhere near that of GM or Ford, and they are about to learn that the biggest obstacle to building millions of cars in multiple factories is not technology and production processes -- it is dealing with worker unionization and the local/national politics of the places they try to build factories in. This is something the large players like GM and Ford are good at, after decades of experience.
Tesla is also getting an easy ride because it has a lot of very happy shareholders right now. Imagine trying to surmount those challenges while angry activist shareholders are trying to get you to split the stock, or forcing out your CEO when the stock price is flat.
I think Ford and GM are bargain stock deals right now for people who want to invest in self-driving cars. Ford and GM are may not be the first to develop that technology, but they are probably going to build more self-driving cars than anyone else once the technology becomes available.
It's very, very difficult to build a successful car company, especially one that can produce affordable cars at scale.
The technology for self-driving cars will become commoditized, just as the technology behind smartphones did. When that happens, it will be the companies like GM, Ford, VW, and Toyota that produce self-driving cars that people can afford at large scale.
Tesla wants to join that club, but their production scale is not anywhere near that of GM or Ford, and they are about to learn that the biggest obstacle to building millions of cars in multiple factories is not technology and production processes -- it is dealing with worker unionization and the local/national politics of the places they try to build factories in. This is something the large players like GM and Ford are good at, after decades of experience.
Tesla is also getting an easy ride because it has a lot of very happy shareholders right now. Imagine trying to surmount those challenges while angry activist shareholders are trying to get you to split the stock, or forcing out your CEO when the stock price is flat.
I think Ford and GM are bargain stock deals right now for people who want to invest in self-driving cars. Ford and GM are may not be the first to develop that technology, but they are probably going to build more self-driving cars than anyone else once the technology becomes available.