Is Tesla really on the "for flexing it" side of luxury? I'm in Argentina and never met anyone who owns or drives one, let alone get into one save for on a trip and it was in a showroom. I was under the impression it's the kind of luxury were your money is worth because no one else does an EV that's as comfortable, dependable, fast and with good range.
I mean it's luxurious as eating wagyu beef is, there's a barrier to entry but not as artificial as in for example buying Gucci loafers, and if you really want the taste/experience you have to cough up the money.
I work at Google, and there's a lot of them (both S and 3 and a few Xs) in the parking lot here, but that's because of Google salary. They're bloody expensive. The "$35,000" model is nowhere to be seen, and even when it comes, it'll be stupidly expensive still here in Canada.
Working class people buy used cars, below $15k at least.
That’s true about the buyers, but go read Elon’s grand plan. He has no interest in making luxury cars, but you can’t launch a mass market cheap car from nothing. He has gone from a 250k roadster, to a 100k luxury sedan, to a 55k fully loaded sedan, and soon to a 35k sedan. As soon as he can drop it further, he will. And in 20 years, the car transportation landscape will have been transformed.
This is the typical cycle for a new good. You could have said that the first cell phone, which cost a fortune, or the first smartphone, were each luxury goods for wealthy people to show off. Which was true, but now years later, all that money drove innovation to the point where nearly the entire world has one, interconnecting humanity to a much greater degree than before.
I mean it's luxurious as eating wagyu beef is, there's a barrier to entry but not as artificial as in for example buying Gucci loafers, and if you really want the taste/experience you have to cough up the money.