Electrek reported that the German luxury carmaker released a 30-second video commercial for its plug-in hybrid 3 Series, dubbed as “BMW 330e”, urging Model 3 customers that they should not have to wait so long for a vehicle. In a new advert, BMW essentially indirects the Tesla Model 3 due to its massive waiting times. This, along with “that other electric vehicle company’s new model ever even arrives” clearly referred to Tesla’s Model 3 and implied that BMW now considers itself an EV maker too.
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Then the ad cuts to a shiny new BMW 330e plug-in hybrid that promises a combined 72mpge and proclaims that “it’s the auto you’ve been waiting for, without the wait”.
It is worth $44,795, a market segment for hybrid cars were you could also find the Lexus ES 300h, the Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron or the Lincon MKZ Hybrid. You’ll do your taxes a few times, get through some New Year’s celebrations, and then you’ll do some more waiting. The sedan was announced in late March, and the introduction generated a lot of hype: by the end of July, Tesla had already taken 373,000 orders for the Model 3. More than 370,000 people paid a $1,000 deposit to receive one, despite the fact that production likely won’t start until after July 1, 2017.
The case looks to be even worse for the recently unveiled Tesla Model 3, the electric automaker’s most affordable model.
While playing on America’s lack of patience is a wise marketing move for BMW, the hundreds of thousands of Model 3 reservation holders knew what they were getting into. If they are, they must be dangerously spontaneous with their money. Model 3 is set to be the first mass-produced vehicle by the California-based automaker., and its success holds to keys to the company’s future. It’s not to say the Model 3 will actually start shipping to customers when it was promised, because we all know Tesla has a awful track record with keeping a schedule.
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The videos in question are supposed to show off the BMW 330e PHEV. The ad seems to suggest that people who choose to wait a long time for a Tesla are silly. Of course, Tesla isn’t going to fight back because it doesn’t need to.
