While I agree that Tesla's article is not perfectly logical and its marketing campaign is not impeccable, I would like to demonstrate that people at Tesla Motors have a point.

1. "STATISTICALLY SAFER" CUSTOMERS. Yes, this statement makes no sense. One fatal crash is not a large enough sample size to make such conclusion. However, this article was aimed not at Hacker News readers, but at average buyers. Most of them do not have a firm grasp of high school math, so for them "statistically safer" means just "don't worry." And indeed there are reasons for them to worry, given that independent news agencies continually publish hysterical things (It is a “a wake-up call!” “Reassess” self-driving cars! The crash “is raising safety concerns for everyone in Florida!” [1]). Tesla's response was nothing but a necessary defence. Or did you expect them to say, "You know, there are not enough data yet, so let's wait until 10 or so more people die, and then we will draw conclusions." This is much more logical, but I feel that customers wouldn't like it.

2. WHY IT IS CALLED "AUTOPILOT." This is just marketing. They couldn't sell it under the name "The Beta Version Of The System That Keeps Your Vehicle In Lane As Long As You Keep Your Hands On The Steering Wheel And Are Ready To Regain Control At Any Moment™." And honestly, I do not think that even relatively stupid customers will just press the button and hope for the best without reading what the Autopilot is all about in advance.

In my opinion, it is now a difficult time for Tesla, and we should not criticise it for trying to stay afloat.

[1] http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/07/how-the-media-screwed...

EDIT: You might think that the phrase "trying to stay afloat" is unnecessary pathos, since a single crash, even coupled with a bunch of nonsense news articles, cannot lead to anything serious. However, the history shows it can. In 2000, Concorde crashed during takeoff, killing all people on board [2]. The event was caused by metal debris on the runway, not by some problem with the plane itself. Nevertheless, Concorde lost it reputation of one of the safest planes in the world. The passenger numbers plummeted, and Concorde retired three years later. That crash is the number one reason why it now takes 12 hours to get from Europe to America.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_4590