I disagree. Tesla is a luxury brand. Hertz is not.

I think you missed the joke

(And also, Tesla a luxury brand? Seriously?)

Half of their models start at $80k+ USD. Sure seems like a luxury brand.

I have a Toyota Corolla to sell you at $100k.

I think outside of the US it’s considered very luxurious.

Model S and Model X are definitely higher end cars. Once you remove the hype factor, Model 3 is comparable to Honda or Volkswagen.

In the UK a Model 3 is priced like a BMW. A typical Honda or Volkswagen is a lot cheaper.

Hertz had fleets of cars including Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris, to be super specific.

The base msrp is about 16k on that class, the tesla 3 is 40k.

That's 2.5 times more expensive. Substantial difference.

if I sell you a Volkswagen for the price of a BMW, does it make it luxurious?

Model3 is expensive because it is hype and electrical.

EDIT: your reply is actually making my point (cannot reply anymore so replying here). All the other EV Cars such as the Bolt that nobody would consider luxurious are around the same price.

No to your edits. The Jetta and Civic are < 20k. The model 3 is not in a Jetta class.

The electric comes at a premium. The gasoline Kona is 20k and electric is 37. Go drive both for a week, then come back to me and say they handle the same, the acceleration is the same, the experience is the same. You won't because it just isn't...

I've extensively driven hybrid and electric models of the same cars (I have been working in a fleet related car company for years, I have access to hundreds of cars), they are as different as a flip phone and smartphone. This is the broad consensus of the staff ... it's plain and obvious when you can do 500+ miles comparisons, electric vendor X model Y > gas same vendor X model Y ... without exception (well so far at least).

We can drive any car for free (we keep at excess capacity, kinda how the supply systems work), nobody on staff rolls off with a gas car these days. Conservatives, liberals, doesn't matter, EV is just better tech.

I still claim the iphone of the electric isn't here yet. Tesla is a good blackberry, but there's something else coming ... don't know when don't know from where but the trajectory is obvious. Even the 2015 -> 2020 improvements are like moore's law level strides ... it's certainly coming soon.

You can be a late adopter on moore's right hand side of the chasm curve and be a holdout for a while, I know I am ... that's fine ... but the gears are already spinning on this one.

The very base model Jetta is <20k. Most standard packages will take it above that.

Of course. That's true for all the cars. You have to use something as a comparator though.

If you compare it to other cars without the hype but a comparable EV range, say a Hyundai ioniq (33k), Chevy bolt (36) or the Nissan leaf (32), the model 3 (40) is in the same range albeit at the high end. It also has the best range of the lot of them.

Maybe you're claiming all the other electric cars like, say, the Buick Velite or the Kia Soul EV have some hype price premium too. I really don't think most non-car people have ever heard of those models though so I doubt they can pump the price based on hype.

To claim it is like a Mitsubishi mirage at 15k is disingenuous.

In Denmark a used Tesla retails for approx $200k (DKK 1M).

Actually would be interesting to replace an existing rental company with tons of physical locations, especially since the margins to buy the cars decreases upfront cost of the otherwise premium vehicle. Low maintenance and high resale value are a bonus.

Just wouldn't work though with the baggage from the rest of the existing business.