According to a story that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, seasoned former auto executive Bob Lutz had some nice words to say about the Tesla’s Model S but some less-than-shining comments about Tesla itself.
While talking with car collectors in Arizona, he praised the Model S:
“A Model S, especially with the performance upgrades, is one of the fastest, best handling, best braking sedans that you could buy in the world today,” he said at a forum sponsored by rare-car insurance company Hagerty. “The acceleration times will beat any $350,000 European exotic.”
Tesla as a company hasn’t had very many kind words from the decidedly old-school Lutz, and this is no exception. Here, he said that Elon Musk isn’t running a good car company because the costs to produce the Model S far outweigh any revenue received on the vehicle.
However, Lutz said that car collectors should snatch up a Model S when they get the chance because they might not be around long if Tesla goes broke.
Lutz was not optimistic about Tesla when he said:
Afterward, he told The Times that he is “semi-serious” about his suggestion. “Twenty-five years from now, [the Model S] will be remembered as the first really good-looking, fast electric car. People will say ‘Too bad they went broke.’”
He also said that he doesn’t know how Tesla will get out the financial mess that it’s currently in. But as the story notes, the company’s still at a market value of $58.7 billion, and it claims it is on its way to sorting out the Model 3's production issue. So I guess we’ll see!