Photo: bayol on teslamotorsclub.com
The media is considered the fourth estate, and there's a good reason for that: its power can sometimes be stronger than anything the government can come up with.
It won't be the case here, but it's still pretty spectacular to see the instant effect one single article had, not to mention the monetary impact, which is probably more than the author will ever make in his entire lifetime.
Earlier today, Tesla inserted a short phrase next to the Model 3 reservation button on its website. It was just a clarification meant to help those who haven't placed an order for the upcoming EV yet by informing them on when they should expect their new car in case they did decide to click that red button.
"Delivery estimate for new reservations is mid 2018 or later," it read, right under another line that announced the production would start late 2017. Adding the two pieces of information together isn't that hard, especially if you also possess another one: those 400,000-odd reservations already in place.
What Tesla tried - and, as far as we're concerned, succeeded - to say is that any new order for a Model 3 is going to be processed after those initial 400,000 have been dealt with, so it might take some time. However, the CNBC piece suggested otherwise, with the title claiming that “Tesla quietly pushes back delivery estimate for new Model 3 orders to mid-2018 or later.”
Being one of the country's main media outlets, the repercussions were felt almost instantly. The Tesla stock dipped from 198 to 194 in a matter of seconds, but it did recover just as quick after that. In the meantime, the article's title was also changed to a much more accurate “If you didn’t order your Model 3 yet, you won’t get it until mid-2018, Tesla says”.
Contacted about the situation by Electrek, Tesla had this to say: “Today’s website update does not reflect any change in our plans. We still plan to begin Model 3 deliveries in 2017, and we adjusted the delivery date on our marketing page to reflect more accurate timing for new/future reservation holders.”
But stock stories aside, the real question is why did Tesla feel the need to add this clarification today, just a few hours before a "surprising" product release that Elon Musk announced a little over a week ago? Is the company expecting a lot more orders to follow and wanted to make sure they know exactly what they're getting into? Or is it all just a big coincidence? We guess we'll find out tomorrow.
Earlier today, Tesla inserted a short phrase next to the Model 3 reservation button on its website. It was just a clarification meant to help those who haven't placed an order for the upcoming EV yet by informing them on when they should expect their new car in case they did decide to click that red button.
"Delivery estimate for new reservations is mid 2018 or later," it read, right under another line that announced the production would start late 2017. Adding the two pieces of information together isn't that hard, especially if you also possess another one: those 400,000-odd reservations already in place.
What Tesla tried - and, as far as we're concerned, succeeded - to say is that any new order for a Model 3 is going to be processed after those initial 400,000 have been dealt with, so it might take some time. However, the CNBC piece suggested otherwise, with the title claiming that “Tesla quietly pushes back delivery estimate for new Model 3 orders to mid-2018 or later.”
Being one of the country's main media outlets, the repercussions were felt almost instantly. The Tesla stock dipped from 198 to 194 in a matter of seconds, but it did recover just as quick after that. In the meantime, the article's title was also changed to a much more accurate “If you didn’t order your Model 3 yet, you won’t get it until mid-2018, Tesla says”.
Contacted about the situation by Electrek, Tesla had this to say: “Today’s website update does not reflect any change in our plans. We still plan to begin Model 3 deliveries in 2017, and we adjusted the delivery date on our marketing page to reflect more accurate timing for new/future reservation holders.”
But stock stories aside, the real question is why did Tesla feel the need to add this clarification today, just a few hours before a "surprising" product release that Elon Musk announced a little over a week ago? Is the company expecting a lot more orders to follow and wanted to make sure they know exactly what they're getting into? Or is it all just a big coincidence? We guess we'll find out tomorrow.
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