It's not volume, it's vertically integrated agility. Can't get Continental radar hardware anymore? Tesla updates their vehicle software to use vision only. Tesla can't get certain chips? They have motivated engineers (culture!) in house able to refactor the vehicle software to support a new silicon configuration.
This is a symptom of legacy automaker stagnation, believing their role is to make a profit from bolting together a bunch of external supplier parts, which works until it doesn't. Their supply chain failure is Tesla's opportunity. This is really no different than SpaceX versus Blue Origin, and how each approaches their culture and management.
EDIT (HN throttling, can't reply directly to your comment): @filereaper Musk is an engineer at his core, and sets the culture of his organizations (high expectations but respect for engineering talent). Bezos and Blue Origin are what you'd expect if McKinsey & Company (the consulting firm) were building a space exploration company. Check out upwardbound's comment below, it's spot on, specifically the section on finding talent.
@malcolmgreaves: There is a delta between what we believe makes a good engineer.
This is a symptom of legacy automaker stagnation, believing their role is to make a profit from bolting together a bunch of external supplier parts, which works until it doesn't. Their supply chain failure is Tesla's opportunity. This is really no different than SpaceX versus Blue Origin, and how each approaches their culture and management.
EDIT (HN throttling, can't reply directly to your comment): @filereaper Musk is an engineer at his core, and sets the culture of his organizations (high expectations but respect for engineering talent). Bezos and Blue Origin are what you'd expect if McKinsey & Company (the consulting firm) were building a space exploration company. Check out upwardbound's comment below, it's spot on, specifically the section on finding talent.
@malcolmgreaves: There is a delta between what we believe makes a good engineer.