Disclaimer up front: I work for a Tesla competitor.
If I were a Tesla investor I'd want to hear more about how Design for Automation is going. If you plan to automate vehicle assembly in a cost effective manner (as Musk has indicated), your components and your assembly operations must be designed for that automation.
Tesla has had notable problems getting suppliers to understand and implement their plans (BorgWarner? - original transmission for the Roadster; Mobile Eye - self driving components; Falcon wing door component supplier).
Tesla regularly asks suppliers to do things that no other car company has asked them to do (see list above). Design for Automation is a new requirement for many components, so this may be a challenge for suppliers, and thus Tesla.
Tesla may win this gamble, or they may not. It will be interesting and educational either way.
Their agility in comparison to GM is communicated very well. At least they tackle innovative moonshot projects, it motivates people to give their best.
In other companies the ones innovating are the minority and people dwell on past successes.
I'd rather work at an innovative company than for GM.
To bflesch's point, GM is making a different gamble: that the vast majority of consumers will continue to prefer fossil fuel engines for the next few engineering cycles (10-15 years).
GM has a side bet on electric cars in the form of a joint venture to build electric cars with LG, and another side bet in the form of a joint venture to build hydrogen fuel cells with Honda.
Tesla is making a VERY big bet that a vertically integrated, highly automated, battery electric carmaker will be able to take an increasing amount of market share.
To be clear, I'm extremely impressed with what Tesla has accomplished so far - if Musk accomplishes what he plans, manufacturing will never be the same.
Like I said above, it will be educational to see what happens.
If I were a Tesla investor I'd want to hear more about how Design for Automation is going. If you plan to automate vehicle assembly in a cost effective manner (as Musk has indicated), your components and your assembly operations must be designed for that automation.
Tesla has had notable problems getting suppliers to understand and implement their plans (BorgWarner? - original transmission for the Roadster; Mobile Eye - self driving components; Falcon wing door component supplier).
Tesla regularly asks suppliers to do things that no other car company has asked them to do (see list above). Design for Automation is a new requirement for many components, so this may be a challenge for suppliers, and thus Tesla.
Tesla may win this gamble, or they may not. It will be interesting and educational either way.