[mschuster91]

> The other vital thing that this article fails to mention at all is how manufacturing is shaped by the larger concerns of the product lifecycle - which is (or should be) the actual "product" that leaves the factory.

> "The car" is just a hunk of metal that embodies the product lifecycle - which can be competitively unique from manufacturer-to-manufacturer.

The thing is, Tesla doesn't have a concept about product lifecycle once the car rolls off the line. They don't care about tuners and tinkerers, they don't care about aftermarket sales (e.g. people realizing they might want a trailer hitch), they don't care about people ending in accidents (or why else does it need months for spare parts for a body shop), they don't care about maintenance (because let's be real, unless you get a lemon car, all you'll need to do for 10-15 years is brake and tire changes!) and no one forces them to do so either, so they do what makes the most profit for them: easy assembly trumps everything, and not having much of a dealer/service station network means you don't have to invest money into building it and schmoozing up dealers' arses for incentives.

Their entire structure is fundamentally different from conventional car makers. Add on top what the Chinese are doing, and the conventionals are headed for some really dark times.