Written Assignment Unit 1: Tesla Case Study University of the People BUS 2207 – Multinational Management William Chang, Instructor June 18, 2023 Tesla Motors is a car and energy company based in California that designs, manufactures, sells, and leases electric vehicles, battery energy storage systems, and solar panels. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded the company in 2003, and it is now headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla is the world's leading manufacturer of electric vehicles and a pioneer in the development of self-driving technology. The mission of the company is to "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy”. (Contributor, 2018) The company has changed the auto industry in various ways as it was the first automaker to exclusively focus on electric vehicles and its success has opened the path for various other automakers to join the same path. Tesla has a vertically integrated supply chain which gives them complete control of their production and costs. It is the leading automobile manufacturer in technology and evolution as it uses artificial intelligence, data analysis, and more to continuously improve its product. However, the best thing about Tesla is how they keep their customers satisfied by always keeping them at the center of their attention, which is one of the reasons behind Tesla being able to build such a loyal fan following. (Contributor, 2018) The current globalization situation for Tesla is based on various key factors. Firstly, the business is continuously expanding into new markets, not just in terms of selling its vehicles but also in terms of opening its manufacturing plants. It is trying to become a truly global automaker. Its first car was delivered in Europe in 2013 and then in Asia in 2014. This is further elevated by the fact that the company is fully vertically supply chain giving them full control of each process of their manufacturing including quality and costs. Moreover, the company does not rely on external vendors to sell its cars and has a direct connection with its customers through technology. The company’s mobile app and websites allow customers to order vehicles and schedule service, and support. This allows them to build a unique bond with there customers due to which they keep a strong loyal fanbase. (Tesla Globalization: Expansion Strategy - 2775 Words | Research Paper Example, 2023) Personally after reading about globalization and more in this class, I also noticed another important factor that makes Tesla’s globalization strategy successful and that is that the company does not indulge itself in sensitive political mess that might become culturally sensitive to its customers from some other part of the world. This is also one of the reasons behind Tesla forming great relations with almost all governments in the world. However, that does not mean that the country does not suffer from political situations from around the world as the company’s China factory was affected due to the trade tensions between the US and China. Tesla needs to do various things to maintain its competitive advantage over its competitors who are quickly entering in the rapidly growing electric automobile business. In my opinion, Tesla products are mostly only targeted to the individuals who can afford to buy them which is mostly the upper-class individuals. If Tesla truly wants to dominate the electric car market it needs to diversify its products and increase its product line up and come up with more affordable options. The company also needs to expand its reach as it is still not available in the majority of the countries in the world and finally, the company needs to continue to keep innovating like it has been doing to always stay further ahead of its competition. In conclusion, Tesla took a challenge to innovate the automobile space with more environmentfriendly cars and quickly became the pioneer in the technology. Standing for quality, customer satisfaction, innovation, and performance. It had a successful globalization strategy to become a truly global business. However, it must keep innovating and further strengthen its hold in the market to truly be dominant in the electric car space and prevent any competition from taking its place. Word Count: 665 words References Carpenter, M. A., & Dunung, S. P., Global, A. (2011). International Business version 1.0. Saylor Foundation. https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/72 Contributor, K. P. M. (2018, February 20). Case study: How Tesla changed the auto industry. Supply Chain Dive. https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/case-study-how-teslachanged-the-auto-industry/517251/ Tesla Globalization: Expansion Strategy - 2775 Words | Research Paper Example. (2023, February 18). Free Essays. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-globalization-of-teslamotors-mission-analysis/
