Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) may be top-of-mind when you ask people about electric cars but the company’s model is not for everyone. Certainly not for Audi AG, according to Audi America President Scott Keogh.
In an interview with CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer, Keogh remarks that several factors when it comes to the buyer of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) cars makes that company’s model of selling cars not really applicable for a company like Audi.
“Look at the Tesla buyer, average income is $500,000 a year, average transaction price is $100,000 to $110,000 a year. It is not a business case that will work for us,” the Audi executive says.
Pointing to an A3 e-tron in the background, Audi’s latest vehicle against the likes of the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S, Keogh says that this is a business case that will work for them. In fact, it’s a business case he says he thinks is more applicable to the American public than what Tesla has.
“This is a plug-in hybrid. So what you have here is you still have what Audi is known for, a very high-output small 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine and the battery,” Keogh said.
In another interview with CNBC, Keogh said that the A3 e-tron will banish range anxiety, something Elon Musk, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) founder and CEO, has been fond of saying in the past. The A3 e-tron has a range of 600 miles when the tank and battery are full. In hybrid mode, the car is rated at 90 miles per gallon, Keogh said.
Keogh also says in the interview that people are not exactly buying Model S sedans and other Tesla cars before that because of the savings they will have on fuel cost. He points out that the average transaction price of Tesla customers is $110,000. At the price point the Audi A3 e-tron has, people will have the chance to buy a car that they can save fuel in, he notes.
This car, he adds, is aimed to be a primary car, not an additional car to add to the fleet a well-off family has. It is designed to be used every day, he points out. The Audi executive also indicates that plug-in hybrids is what they think will be better for electric cars because charging an all-electric vehicle at the moment takes too long.
Daniel Benton’s Andor Capital Management owned 1.25 million Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares by the end of December. The stake made up 17.71% of the Andor Capital Management portfolio.
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