Featured Geneva Auto Show and the Tesla Fighters

Source: http://www.autonews.com/article/20180226/OEM03/180229887/geneva-auto-show-preview

BMW, Toyota could steal the Geneva show

Jaguar, Audi, VW, M-B come armed with Tesla fighters

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After years of dismissing talk of a Tesla threat, alarm bells went off when the Model S outsold the Mercedes-Benz S class and BMW 7 series in Europe for the first time last year.

If Tesla overcomes its Model 3 production glitches, traditional automakers will have a bigger cause for concern, Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said in an investor note last week.

Jaguar's I-Pace electric crossover is seen by industry watchers as the first credible all-electric Tesla rival. Audi, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz also will showcase electric vehicles aimed at Tesla.

Geneva also highlights the industry's shift toward electrification in the top-end and lower price brackets. Bentley will debut its first plug-in hybrid, while Hyundai premieres a battery-powered version of its new Kona small crossover.
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The history of "Prius killers" is littered with failed models. But Tesla has an open secret, a shield, the SuperCharger network now being augmented by the 'free' destination chargers. Meanwhile the ordinary dealers have not figured out they need to put their dealer chargers in a 24x7, parking area. They continue to lockup their chargers outside of business hours instead of making a network of J1772 and CCS chargers. The irony is charging could augment the lost maintenance business.

The bigger hit is to the Detroit Auto Show that is already losing to CES. The decades of anti-Prius and EV skepticism has accumulated and other than pickup makers, there just isn't any reason to care about Detroit.

Bob Wilson