Article Thoughts: Starbucks and Tesla

Starbucks

The article "Starbucks gets off to a spirited start in India" discusses the impact that Starbucks and globalization have had in India, specifically Mumbai. The company that opened up, Tata Starbucks, was a collaboration between Starbucks and Tata Global Beverages. The doors to the company opened in October of 2012. The author of the article expresses that Starbucks is considered a novelty to the country of India and that the initial sales of Starbucks coffee were exceptionally high, but that sales may begin to slump after a certain period of time. Basically, the article asks the question as to whether Starbucks will be as popular in Mumbai even though it is an elite symbol in the country because of the fact that tea is more popular in the Indian culture. While the people of India respect Starbucks for what it is in terms of popularity and coffee, there is speculation on just how well the company will perform in India because of the small attractiveness that coffee has in the country.

Tesla versus Terra

It is possible for Terra to try to become the leading innovator in the market. Terra will hopefully be able to differentiate themselves from Tesla, a company that has already capitalized on luxury electric cars and electric fill-up stations. While Terra Motors will be a scooter company, not a luxury car company, Terra needs to fix the existing flaws in their technology before they break into the market. The prospect of the revenue and profit that Terra stands to make is impressive and does justify taking such a risk in cost and design of the scooter. There is not much idea-sharing in this case given these are two different types of vehicles - a luxury car versus a scooter. This would be the same as comparing a Jeep to a BMW in terms of car types. It is a matter of consumer preference. I did not see any stealing of an idea or design with what Tesla is doing. If the Terra Motors wanted to create a fully electric luxury car as Tesla has then that would be stealing both a design and an idea. What Terra Motors has come up with is only unique in that it is a scooter that will run on electric.