The car that actually switched the world had a much quieter rollout than Tesla’s Model Three
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Elon Musk is introducing Tesla`s very first mass-market electrical car to the world like it will become a garage staple. Never one for subtlety, Musk staged an elaborate handover ceremony to the very first thirty buyers of the Model three last night (July 28) in front of hundreds of people outside the company`s California factory. The event, of course, was streamed live.
A post collective by Tesla (@teslamotors) on Jul 28, two thousand seventeen at 9:40pm PDT
Compared with the subdued launch of Ford`s Model T–a car that actually did switch the world–Musk`s big expose was packed with drama, a display of his confidence that his fresh vehicle will be revolutionary.
But Musk might be putting the cart before the pony. Ford didn`t toot their own horns prematurely–»[They] thought it was an evolutionary model, but it was a revolutionary model,» says Nancy Darga, executive director of the Piquette Avenue Plant museum–but Tesla`s flashy event and big promises might set it up for a let-down.
The Model T would go on to make cars an affordable necessity and form America`s car-centric infrastructure. Its selling points included its enclosed transmission, how light the car was (so it wouldn`t get stuck in the mud on the largely filth roads of the time), and, of course, the price: $825.
Ford wasn`t so ostentatious about its innovation. When they flipped out of the Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit in October 1908, «there was no invite for the press,» Ford historian Mike Skinner tells Quartz. «They just shipped them to the dealers.»
Early Model T assembly at Highland Park Plant. (Courtesy Ford)
But dealerships weren`t ready for them. Ford sent out Model T brochures in early 1908, but Skinner says car salesmen tucked them away. «We have cautiously hidden the sheets away and locked in a drawer, throwing the key down the cold-air shaft,» one Illinois Ford dealer said, according to David L. Lewis`s book The Public Picture of Henry Ford: American Folk Hero and His Company.
Worried this flashy fresh vehicle would render the rest of their lot a practical junkyard, they desired to overlook it and sell the inventory they already had. So Ford met them halfway with a calculated release that would give them time to sell their existing stock instead of throwing a Musk-style car carnival. «We didn`t want to mess up the dealers out there [by telling] ‘Hey, leave behind about the old thing,’» Robert Kreipke, Ford`s corporate historian, told Quartz.
Like with the months leading up to the Model three launch, the press was abuzz. Horseless Age and Motor Age published diagrams and photographs of the fresh car, and once ads embarked to pop up in newspapers, request was unrelenting. «Once loosed, the cataract of orders flowed unchecked,» Lewis writes. «In the fall of one thousand nine hundred eight request ran so far ahead of production that the company could insist that it would supply Model T`s only to those dealers that sold all of the previous models on forearm.»
Request might be a challenge for Musk as well.
«The thing that`s going to be a major challenge for us over the next six to nine months is how do we build a thick number of cars,» he said on stage last night in front of his fans and employees. «Frankly, we`re going to be in production hell. Welcome to production hell.»
Observe the very first Model three handovers on https://t.co/7Ol1Bw0ZaG this Friday at 8:45pm PT pic.twitter.com/b00OZGviNK
While the introduction of the Model T may not have been flashy, Ford still loved a good spectacle. Shortly before the Model Ts were making their way to dealerships, Henry Ford and two associates drove one of the cars 1,357 miles from Detroit to a hunting journey outside of Milwaukee and back again. The three boys flipped up on Oct. Two, «feeling fine and immensely enthusiastic over the remarkable spectacle of this fresh car,» the Detroit Free Press reported at the time. The next year, the car was used to win the American Transcontinental Race from Fresh York to Seattle, which was another ideal photo chance for Ford.
The Model T indeed took off after Ford launched the assembly line in 1913, which slashed the cost of the Model T to $250. It put them within the reach of millions of Americans, and Ford produced fifteen million of the iconic cars until they were discontinued in 1927.
Fast-forward to Musk in two thousand seventeen and the electrical Model Three`s splashy entrance. That fanfare won`t dictate the car`s success, but «time will tell,» Kreipke says.
Tesla s (TSLA) Model three launch was much louder than Ford s Model T roll-out one hundred nine years ago
The car that actually switched the world had a much quieter rollout than Tesla’s Model Trio
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Elon Musk is introducing Tesla`s very first mass-market electrified car to the world like it will become a garage staple. Never one for subtlety, Musk staged an elaborate handover ceremony to the very first thirty buyers of the Model three last night (July 28) in front of hundreds of people outside the company`s California factory. The event, of course, was streamed live.
A post collective by Tesla (@teslamotors) on Jul 28, two thousand seventeen at 9:40pm PDT
Compared with the subdued launch of Ford`s Model T–a car that actually did switch the world–Musk`s big expose was packed with drama, a display of his confidence that his fresh vehicle will be revolutionary.
But Musk might be putting the cart before the pony. Ford didn`t toot their own horns prematurely–»[They] thought it was an evolutionary model, but it was a revolutionary model,» says Nancy Darga, executive director of the Piquette Avenue Plant museum–but Tesla`s flashy event and big promises might set it up for a let-down.
The Model T would go on to make cars an affordable necessity and form America`s car-centric infrastructure. Its selling points included its enclosed transmission, how light the car was (so it wouldn`t get stuck in the mud on the largely mess roads of the time), and, of course, the price: $825.
Ford wasn`t so ostentatious about its innovation. When they spinned out of the Piquette Avenue plant in Detroit in October 1908, «there was no invite for the press,» Ford historian Mike Skinner tells Quartz. «They just shipped them to the dealers.»
Early Model T assembly at Highland Park Plant. (Courtesy Ford)
But dealerships weren`t ready for them. Ford sent out Model T brochures in early 1908, but Skinner says car salesmen tucked them away. «We have cautiously hidden the sheets away and locked in a drawer, throwing the key down the cold-air shaft,» one Illinois Ford dealer said, according to David L. Lewis`s book The Public Picture of Henry Ford: American Folk Hero and His Company.
Worried this flashy fresh vehicle would render the rest of their lot a practical junkyard, they wished to disregard it and sell the inventory they already had. So Ford met them halfway with a calculated release that would give them time to sell their existing stock instead of throwing a Musk-style car carnival. «We didn`t want to mess up the dealers out there [by telling] ‘Hey, leave behind about the old thing,’» Robert Kreipke, Ford`s corporate historian, told Quartz.
Like with the months leading up to the Model three launch, the press was abuzz. Horseless Age and Motor Age published diagrams and photographs of the fresh car, and once ads embarked to pop up in newspapers, request was unrelenting. «Once loosed, the cataract of orders flowed unchecked,» Lewis writes. «In the fall of one thousand nine hundred eight request ran so far ahead of production that the company could insist that it would supply Model T`s only to those dealers that sold all of the previous models on palm.»
Request might be a challenge for Musk as well.
«The thing that`s going to be a major challenge for us over the next six to nine months is how do we build a thick number of cars,» he said on stage last night in front of his fans and employees. «Frankly, we`re going to be in production hell. Welcome to production hell.»
Witness the very first Model three handovers on https://t.co/7Ol1Bw0ZaG this Friday at 8:45pm PT pic.twitter.com/b00OZGviNK
While the introduction of the Model T may not have been flashy, Ford still loved a good spectacle. Shortly before the Model Ts were making their way to dealerships, Henry Ford and two associates drove one of the cars 1,357 miles from Detroit to a hunting journey outside of Milwaukee and back again. The three fellows spinned up on Oct. Two, «feeling fine and immensely enthusiastic over the remarkable spectacle of this fresh car,» the Detroit Free Press reported at the time. The next year, the car was used to win the American Transcontinental Race from Fresh York to Seattle, which was another flawless photo chance for Ford.
The Model T indeed took off after Ford launched the assembly line in 1913, which slashed the cost of the Model T to $250. It put them within the reach of millions of Americans, and Ford produced fifteen million of the iconic cars until they were discontinued in 1927.
Fast-forward to Musk in two thousand seventeen and the electrified Model Three`s splashy entrance. That fanfare won`t dictate the car`s success, but «time will tell,» Kreipke says.