As of: February 6, 2024, 11:19 a.m
By: Kathrin Reikowski
Comments
Press
Split
SAP removes Tesla from its list of company car suppliers.
© picture alliance/dpa |
Christophe Gateau
SAP no longer wants Tesla vehicles in its company car fleet.
Fluctuating list prices, falling resale value - another reason seems strange at first.
Walldorf - SAP throws Tesla out of the company car fleet.
As the
Handelsblatt
reports, SAP has a total of 29,000 cars in its company car fleet and is now removing the US car manufacturer from its supplier list.
“Tesla’s list prices fluctuate more than other manufacturers, which makes planning more difficult and poses a higher risk for us,” says fleet manager Steffen Krautwasser in the Handelsblatt.
Tesla also reduced prices several times in 2023 and 2024, which reduced the resale value of used vehicles.
This would be a problem, especially for large customers.
Another reason for the decision sounds strange at first: According to Krautwasser, Tesla's vehicles are often delivered too early.
What sounds like an advantage at first glance is actually a problem.
Because of the large quantities purchased from SAP, there are difficulties with storage and logistics.
Tesla attracts corporate customers with low operating costs, local mobile service and affordable prices thanks to local and government incentives.
But apparently the electric car manufacturer is not meeting the needs of major customers.
SAP separates from Tesla as a company car supplier - Sixt and
As
auto24.de
reports, the car rental companies Sixt and Hertz have also already taken Tesla out of their vehicle fleet or have started selling Tesla cars.
This is also justified by low resale values and high repair costs, even after accidents.
The US car rental company Hertz also wants to rely more on combustion engines again.
As here on
YouTube,
there are also many enthusiastic reports online about Tesla as a company car: Great equipment with extras such as an on-board refrigerator, or simply satisfaction with the charging and running times of the batteries.
As the Handelsblatt classifies, Tesla is scoring points with a different customer group than major customers: it is the self-employed and smaller companies that are interested in Tesla.
Tesla has a market share of almost four percent there, and 60 percent of the 24,600 Tesla company cars sold in Germany went to smaller companies and self-employed people.
According to Handelsblatt, they would praise the Tesla software and be enthusiastic about the extra features.
The fact that Tesla does not assign its own supervisors to a major customer, as is usual elsewhere, only has a negative impact on major customers.
Tesla continues to score points with smaller companies and the self-employed
What's next?
Is the SAP decision a major setback for Tesla, and perhaps also for e-mobility as a whole?
Complaints about high repair costs should certainly give cause for thought.
And the fact that the switch to cheaper products is now becoming a problem in terms of resale value is likely to cause even more headaches for both Tesla founder Elon Musk and major customers.
Because Elon Musk is currently talking about massive measures to bring cheap cars onto the market quickly.
My news
“Mega increase” for pensioners in 2024: pension expert predicts good prospects
2 hours ago
Negotiations after rail strike: GDL boss announces “industrial dispute”.
Popular confectionery retailer insolvent: 300 branches and 1200 employees affected by bankruptcyread
Next Benko bomb: Investors file criminal complaint after Signa's insolvency
Loss of sales in the millions – auto supplier is insolvent
37 mins ago
Job cuts at traditional company: Thousands of jobs at household appliance manufacturer affected read
Tesla hasn't done itself any favors with the sudden price cuts, says Benjamin Kibies, senior automotive analyst at Dataforce in the
Handelsblatt
.
The “hard currency” continues to be well received by large fleet operators.
But: Thanks, among other things, to the group of small and medium-sized businesses and the self-employed, Tesla increased its sales in Germany by 54 percent in 2024.
The e-car industry in Germany is also facing challenging times overall: The fact that private purchases of e-cars are no longer supported with government bonuses has led to creative reactions from car dealers, but sales of e-cars could continue to decline.
The high loss of value is increasingly becoming a problem for retailers.
Even though providers from China have long been streaming into the German market alongside Tesla and Co, the e-car target of 15 million cars on German roads by 2030 is likely to be in danger for a long time.
(cat)