Will Tesla's (TSLA) Model S Suffer the Dreaded 'Madden Curse'? (GM)
The story behind "Madden NFL," which is a football game developed for several gaming platforms and is going on its 25th season, was that the NFL player to make the cover would be met with the "Madden Curse." Basically, that was the peak of the players' career and nothing good would happen after.
Turning back to cars, Motor Trend named the Model S its "Car of the Year" for 2013, one of the few times a non-internal combustion engine-based auto has made the cover. Most recently, General Motors' (NYSE: GM) Chevy Volt, which was a gas-electric hybrid, garnered the honor for 2011.
For April, GM reported deliveries of 1,306 units, down 10.7 percent from the prior year. Year-to-date deliveries numbered 5,550 units, which was a gain of just 3.2 percent.
GM also missed its goal of 30,000 deliveries last year.
By comparison, the Model S has 4,900 deliveries for the three months ended March 2013. The company also said it is receiving orders at a rate of over 20,000 per year right now in the markets it operates.
Possibly the most beguiling stat is the cost; while the Chevy Volt starts with an MSRP of $31,645 or so, the Model S carries an average price more than twice as much at $79,900.
Maybe GM should charge more? Shares of GM are down about 0.5 percent, while Tesla is over 30 percent better for the session.