Firm That Likened Model 3 To 90s Kia Now More Impressed By The Car

Sandy Munro of Munro and Associates initially wasn’t impressed by the Model 3 he was tearing down for a benchmarking study. A widely-viewed video released a few months ago saw Sandy point out several troubling details, including wildly inconsistent shut-lines and a random piece of fabric that was glued to one of the doors to make it seal better.

Damningly, he likened the Model 3’s build quality failings to the sort of thing you’d find on a Kia from the 1990s. Ouch.

Now, there’s a new video featuring Munro, and although he seems to stand by his original comments about the fit and finish of the car, he has found some things to like. He’s been impressed by the way the car drove, but what Munro is most taken by is just how profitable the car is.

“I have to eat crow. I didn’t think it was going to happen this way, but the Model 3 is profitable,” Sandy concludes. Not only that, but according to the results of his comprehensive tear down, the margin is over 30 per cent. Other cars are achieving this kind of margin, he notes, but none are electric.

We can’t be sure if the long-awaited $35,000 version of the Model 3 will enjoy quite such a healthy margin, but still, this is good news for Tesla. The Model 3 is being relied on to turn the company - which lost cash at an astonishing rate during the first quarter of 2018 - into a profitable one with a long-term future. Let’s just hope the build quality is improving…