Article: Slate will offer full loan financing at ~$400 a month. LA, San Francisco, and Seattle are top three markets

[cadblu]

According to this article, CEO Peter Faricy said:

"We'll offer loan financing at some point that would make a loan payment stay $400 a month, roughly," he said. "And that's half the price of what a new car is today." In the auto world, $500 monthlies are typically the line in the sand for affordability — whether it's a lease or a finance payment.

The buyer, it turns out, is an interesting mix geographically. Faricy says the reservation data maps to "a little bit of a smile in the US" — Los Angeles is the No. 1 market, followed by San Francisco and Seattle, with strength in Texas and Florida and back up the coast through New York and Massachusetts.

 

[DinoLord]

Not exactly groundbreaking info there, Peter.

25k at 5% for 6 years is just over 400/mo. 27.5k is just over 440.

 

[EV Trek]

My Credit Union will beat that.

 

[kvermeer]

The buyer, it turns out, is an interesting mix geographically. Faricy says the reservation data maps to "a little bit of a smile in the US" — Los Angeles is the No. 1 market, followed by San Francisco and Seattle, with strength in Texas and Florida and back up the coast through New York and Massachusetts.

More groundbreaking analysis right here!

The population of the US maps to "a little bit of a smile." LA is the second-largest metro area in the country, and a much more sprawling, more car-dependent area than the #1 (NYC). Texas, Florida, and New York are the next largest states with the next largest metro areas, if you ignore Chicago... Does the smiley face happen to have a "nose" in Illinois, Peter? The real shock would be if the entire mountain West ordered 3 Slates each to prevent the map from forming a smile. But almost no one lives there.

 

[ack154]

Number 1 rule in buying a car is not focusing on the monthly payment.

If they're offering financing, I just want to know the loan terms. What's the rate and how long is the loan? My credit union is about 5.5% for 60 months and 5.74% for 75 months right now (neither is amazing).

Assuming no accessories, ~$1000 destination fee, and subtracting the $300 preorder - plus local tax for me, that puts the financed amount at $27,830.25.

At 5% for 5 years, that's $525/mo. and $448/mo for 6 years (same rate).

So I'd love to know more of what they're thinking here. I'm really hoping for a promotional rate - but even 1.99% at 6 years is still over $400 ($410).

I'm definitely putting some cash down (no trade)... but their math is... very questionable without knowing the terms.

 

[cadblu]

Number 1 rule in buying a car is not focusing on the monthly payment.

If they're offering financing, I just want to know the loan terms. What's the rate and how long is the loan? My credit union is about 5.5% for 60 months and 5.74% for 75 months right now (neither is amazing).

Assuming no accessories, ~$1000 destination fee, and subtracting the $300 preorder - plus local tax for me, that puts the financed amount at $27,830.25.

At 5% for 5 years, that's $525/mo. and $448/mo for 6 years (same rate).

So I'd love to know more of what they're thinking here. I'm really hoping for a promotional rate - but even 1.99% at 6 years is still over $400 ($410).

I'm definitely putting some cash down (no trade)... but their math is... very questionable without knowing the terms.

Totally agree! At one point in the interview, Faricy claimed that a monthly payment of $500 was considered the benchmark for an affordable car loan. So then by promoting the $400 target, it's part of his strategy to demonstrate how affordable the Slate will be for most household budgets.

 

[ack154]

Totally agree! At one point in the interview, Faricy claimed that a monthly payment of $500 was considered the benchmark for an affordable car loan. So then by promoting the $400 target, it's part of his strategy to demonstrate how affordable the Slate will be for most household budgets.

Sure - and that makes sense. I'd just really like to know how they're going to get to that price, since they're already putting that number out there, especially without a lease (am I remembering correctly they're not planning to offer leasing right away?).

 

[Trace26]

...especially without a lease (am I remembering correctly they're not planning to offer leasing right away?).

Correct, not until "residual value" is known, so not for a few years.

 

[Johnologue]

The buyer, it turns out, is an interesting mix geographically. Faricy says the reservation data maps to "a little bit of a smile in the US" — Los Angeles is the No. 1 market, followed by San Francisco and Seattle, with strength in Texas and Florida and back up the coast through New York and Massachusetts.

More groundbreaking analysis right here!

The population of the US maps to "a little bit of a smile." LA is the second-largest metro area in the country, and a much more sprawling, more car-dependent area than the #1 (NYC). Texas, Florida, and New York are the next largest states with the next largest metro areas, if you ignore Chicago... Does the smiley face happen to have a "nose" in Illinois, Peter? The real shock would be if the entire mountain West ordered 3 Slates each to prevent the map from forming a smile. But almost no one lives there.

"Pet peeve #208: Geographic profile maps which are basically population maps."
Yeah, there's an xkcd comic for this. https://xkcd.com/1138/

I like the idea of "Slate has appeal in many markets", but it seems like Pete, the business guy, is either forgetting this very important point on geographic data or being deliberately misleading.

It's also possible he isn't aware that California, Texas, Florida, and Washington are the leading states for new EV registrations in general, and is therefore surprised by the distribution not all being the west coast.
(Washington's rate of EVs vs. total car registrations is higher, but Texas and Florida are much bigger states.)

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Number 1 rule in buying a car is not focusing on the monthly payment.

If they're offering financing, I just want to know the loan terms. What's the rate and how long is the loan? My credit union is about 5.5% for 60 months and 5.74% for 75 months right now (neither is amazing).

Assuming no accessories, ~$1000 destination fee, and subtracting the $300 preorder - plus local tax for me, that puts the financed amount at $27,830.25.

At 5% for 5 years, that's $525/mo. and $448/mo for 6 years (same rate).

So I'd love to know more of what they're thinking here. I'm really hoping for a promotional rate - but even 1.99% at 6 years is still over $400 ($410).

I'm definitely putting some cash down (no trade)... but their math is... very questionable without knowing the terms.

Let's hope if it is just CEO "big picture" speak, but they have to know that for their target demographic, affordability is measured in precise budget amounts and not rounding down to the nearest $100.

 

[tubes]

"Pet peeve #208: Geographic profile maps which are basically population maps."
Yeah, there's an xkcd comic for this. https://xkcd.com/1138/

I like the idea of "Slate has appeal in many markets", but it seems like Pete, the business guy, is either forgetting this very important point on geographic data or being deliberately misleading.

It's also possible he isn't aware that California, Texas, Florida, and Washington are the leading states for new EV registrations in general, and is therefore surprised by the distribution not all being the west coast.
(Washington's rate of EVs vs. total car registrations is higher, but Texas and Florida are much bigger states.)

I'm hoping he was just babbling obvious stuff to fill time because they aren't willing to give the real information like how many reservations converted. It is worth nothing, however, that this interview was shortly after announce.

And about that smile as it relates to this website's self-selected group of contributors. The smile is definitely tilted to the west coast. And there is a huge nose in Michigan and Indiana dripping down on TN and OH. We seem to have lost our NY and NJ enthusiasts. Don't know why.

Map courtesy Google and Gemini with input from this site's preorder page bar graph.

 

[catiare]

Number 1 rule in buying a car is not focusing on the monthly payment.

If they're offering financing, I just want to know the loan terms. What's the rate and how long is the loan? My credit union is about 5.5% for 60 months and 5.74% for 75 months right now (neither is amazing).

Assuming no accessories, ~$1000 destination fee, and subtracting the $300 preorder - plus local tax for me, that puts the financed amount at $27,830.25.

At 5% for 5 years, that's $525/mo. and $448/mo for 6 years (same rate).

So I'd love to know more of what they're thinking here. I'm really hoping for a promotional rate - but even 1.99% at 6 years is still over $400 ($410).

I'm definitely putting some cash down (no trade)... but their math is... very questionable without knowing the terms.

Sometimes they buy down the rate to zero to make that number happen. So you might be getting an additional discount jut by financing with them.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

I'm hoping he was just babbling obvious stuff to fill time because they aren't willing to give the real information like how many reservations converted. It is worth nothing, however, that this interview was shortly after announce.

And about that smile as it relates to this website's self-selected group of contributors. The smile is definitely tilted to the west coast. And there is a huge nose in Michigan and Indiana dripping down on TN and OH. We seem to have lost our NY and NJ enthusiasts. Don't know why.

Map courtesy Google and Gemini with input from this site's preorder page bar graph.

GA doesn't even qualify as a tooth on the smile yet!

 

[tubes]

GA doesn't even qualify as a tooth on the smile yet!

And that's a surprise from the reservation numbers! GA was strongly reported on this forum.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

And that's a surprise from the reservation numbers! GA was strongly reported on this forum.

Our internal consortium of singletons has not boiled to the top yet. That's all.