GM’s Cadillac is going after Tesla’s clientele in a not-so-subtle way by setting up test drives directly at a Tesla Supercharger station.
How can you find people who like electric vehicles? If you find Tesla owners, you likely found people who are into electric vehicles. Where can you find Tesla owners? Supercharger stations are a safe bet.
Not only will you find Tesla owners there, but they will have to stay there for a little while with not much else to do – Cadillac saw an opportunity in that situation.
In Shanghai, General Motors was spotted setting up shop at a Tesla Supercharger station to offer test drives in a Cadillac Lyriq:
Tesla drivers were spotted getting quick test drives in the electric SUV while waiting for their own cars to charge.
The Cadillac Lyriq starts at RMB 479,700 or about $70,000 USD in China; therefore, it only competes with the higher-end of Tesla’s lineup in the country.
It’s not the first time that companies have directly targeted Tesla and its customers to try to sell their own EVs.
Top comment by Haggy
It's a group that's interested in EVs, but it's also a group of people who already have an EV, most likely a late model one.
They'd be better off parking near gas stations, and telling homeowners with cars that they'd never have to stop to pump gas again.
There's a huge market for cars and a huge potential customer base. You won't see Tesla trying to offer drives in front of a different EV maker because almost all Tesla owners started off with an ICE and replaced it with a Tesla. If you ignore that group and focus on people who already have one of what you are selling, you're targeting the wrong people.
It was a very popular practice after Tesla received hundreds of thousands of reservations for the Model 3. Nissan released an “attack ad” against Tesla’s reservation process for the Model 3, and BMW did the same to try to sell its plug-in hybrids.
Electrek’s Take
I’m not mad at this. I don’t get the “territory” comment. As long as they are not blocking any charging station and parking in a public space, it’s fair game in my opinion.
Now the tactic also has its downside – mainly the fact that being at a Supercharger station highlights that Tesla has a big advantage with having its own charging network.
However, this advantage is slowly going away as the automaker opens up the charging network to other electric vehicles.
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