Tesla is known for maintaining long waiting lists and for late deliveries, but that does not affect the demand and popularity of its cars. However, this has irritated BMW, which does not believe in the old popular saying that good things may come to those who wait.
Why wait for a Tesla?
Targeting this wait time, BMW is asking people in a new ad campaign why they are waiting for a Tesla when they can buy a BMW plug-in hybrid now. The ad tries to deride Tesla in a witty way while hitting it in its weak spot.
In one of the ads, a voice says, “You will do your taxes twice, maybe more. You will ring in the New Year twice, maybe more. You will wait and wait and wait some more, all before that electric car company’s new model ever even arrives.”
Though no names are given, it’s clear that the voice is talking about Tesla here.
Tesla has already received 373,000 reservations for its Model 3, indicating that people are prepared to wait even though they do not know when they will actually be able to lay their hands on the vehicle. BMW chuckles at this, as its plug-in hybrid can be bought right now.
BMW tries hard to change thinking
In another ad, BMW used an even more blatant tone. The ad seems to suggest that people who choose to wait a long time for a Tesla are silly. A woman who at first appears to be a Tesla customer who opted to wait for the vehicle is seen in the ad.
However, this is not the case, and she turns out to be a smart and enlightened BMW driver who already bought her BMW 330E and had got an opportunity to mock all her friends waiting to get a Tesla in 2017. BMW has a persuasive argument here though. The 330e will go on sale this summer with a starting price of $44,695 — around $10,000 more than the Model 3’s expected price. Currently, BMW sells two plug-in vehicles in the US, both of which are under the i sub-brand.
CNET suggests that the ads would have been more interesting if BMW depicted a future like one in which President Trump has banned electric cars, insisting that all cars must be coal-powered and colored in gold. Also BMWs are banned because they are made by a foreign firm, suggests CNET.
As of now, there have been no comments from Tesla over the BMW ad. You can view the ad here.
