Hoping Tesla Will Fail

By Jeff Siegel

If you don’t believe that folks are waiting impatiently for Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) to slip up, look no further than today’s action on the stock.

After the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was selling fewer cars and offering new incentives, the stock tanked 6 percent.

Of course, as it turned out, the decline in sales was only in the U.S. And it didn’t take long for super genius Elon Musk to tweet the following message:

Credit Suisse analyst Daniel Galves followed up on the piece, noting that the article was “too misleading to ignore.”

No doubt!

The Wall Street Journal piece also suggested the company was offering two new sales incentives. The incentives to which they referred were regarding the company’s new lease offer.

Galves clarified this, stating that the U.S. Bancorp lease is not an incentive and is 25 percent lower because the bank has a lower cost of funding and is likely taking a less conservative view on residual value.

I tell ya, I’ve never seen so many people so eager to see a company fail.

From its very inception, Tesla has been a punching bag for every ignorant bureaucrat and knuckle-dragging media whore that wants to believe nothing more than the illusion that electric cars are glorified golf cars designed for wealthy eccentrics and overzealous treehuggers.

Nothing can be further from the truth. But rest assured, if there’s blood in the water (or reports of blood in the water), the sharks will circle.

In the meantime, Tesla continues to lead the way, showing the old guard automakers how cars will be made in the future. Just ask Ford CEO Mark Fields who last week announced that Ford has the expertise and ability to build a Tesla-style full-size, high-tech, high-performance, long-range electric vehicle.

I guess they only decided they had the expertise and ability to do this after Tesla came along and disrupted a market that was in desperate need of disruption.

Regardless, Tesla has built a better mousetrap. And while I’m not rushing out to buy the stock right now, rest assured, my next car will be a Tesla. Just like so many other Americans who value quality and performance over mediocrity and complacency.

Jeff Siegel is Editor of Energy and Capital, where this article was first published.