Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrids/Alternative, Green
Tesla Motors opens first factory store in Los Angeles
Click above for high-res gallery from Tesla's Flagship Store grand opening
Tesla Motors has found enough time in between suing and getting sued by its suppliers to open its first dealership in Los Angeles, CA today. Located on the corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards, the $2 million dealership sprawls 10,000 square feet and features poured concrete floors, an exposed ceiling of ductwork and beams, mirrors and potted plants. This is no Chipotle, however, as the first Tesla dealership will be staffed by salaried Tesla employees, not traditional salespeople who work on commission. Another dealership is in the works near Silicon Valley closer to the company's HQ, but we're not sure when that one will open.
Clearly modeled on the highly successful Apple Store experiment, the Tesla factory store is as much about educating the public and building brand awareness as it is about selling Tesla Roadsters. And that's a good thing, as there are no Tesla Roadsters to sell right now. The fledgling automaker has already sold 600 cars and has a waiting list 400 strong, but to date only four have been built. The first car went to Tesla Motors chairman and chief financier Elon Musk, while car #2 is earmarked for forced-out co-founder Martin Eberhard who has delayed delivery of his Tesla Roadster until its custom pain job is ready. Car #4 has been spotted at the Top Marques Monaco show with U2 frontman Bono behind the wheel, while car #3 should be on its way to an actual customer's garage.
Gallery: Tesla Motors Flagship Store - L.A.
[Source: AutoblogGreen, Photos by Vince Bucci/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
tt 3:38PM (5/02/2008)
saw a red tesla on my way to work this morning going northbound on the 405 near the santa monica exit.
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Andy 3:43PM (5/02/2008)
"custom pain job"? A commentary about the co-founder?
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Zane 1:20AM (5/03/2008)
LOL.. never thought the ex co-founder would be interested in BDSM.. *wink wink* It looks as if he's following in the footsteps of the great Max Mosley.
Brandon 3:44PM (5/02/2008)
Man I hope these guys succeed. I can't to see what the White Star looks like.
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zamafir 4:12PM (5/02/2008)
.. worse then the karma.
compy386 3:52PM (5/02/2008)
I think they've fundamentally misunderstood the purpose of a dealership...
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Ken 3:57PM (5/02/2008)
Always
Be
Closing
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joe 4:08PM (5/02/2008)
if they have nothing to sell in the foreseeable future, i don't understand why they would even bother opening it yet-- that's got to be a big waste of money. do they service the cars there if things break? or do they plan on ramping up production really fast such that they need more pre-orders? is brand awareness really a big deal if you are the only electric sports car maker and there is news about every move you make toward full production?
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Ferg 4:11PM (5/02/2008)
I think the dealership will help promote the car to people that don't really know about the car. Not everyone reads automotive sites all day like a lot of us here.
I'm sure much of the public is blind to this. The dealership will help with word of mouth advertising as well as drive by future customers.
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zamafir 4:15PM (5/02/2008)
I'm not so sure. Imagine you've wandered into the dealership while walking down the main drag. Imagine your typical questions:
"how much?"
'north of $100,000'
"how many have u sold?"
'ugh... pre-sold a little more then VW manages to move R32s in a month... but we've only delivered 3 or so'
"oh... well... when could I expect to receive one if i placed a deposit?"
'ugh... I don't know'
"can i drive one?"
'well, we only have a few you see, and if you crash one then we'll just have shiny cement floors in here because we have a few production cars and some old mules/prototypes so no'
"you're crazy."
Andrew 5:29PM (5/02/2008)
haha - you could have stopped after the first sentence - no one walks in Los Angeles
Crosby 4:14PM (5/02/2008)
I saw a yellow tesla about two months ago just outside of San Franciso, doesn't seem to be any of the cars mentioned here.
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tankd0g 4:30PM (5/02/2008)
Perhaps you just saw an Elise. This thing isn't sufficiently different looking from the car it's based on to look like anything special on the road.
tankd0g 4:17PM (5/02/2008)
They just had to compare it to Apple. This thing is now officially doomed.
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coreymarion 5:02PM (5/02/2008)
Yeah, because those Apple Stores have been a complete bomb...http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/business/27apple.html
tankd0g 6:38PM (5/02/2008)
NOTHING that has tried to copy Apple has been sucessful at doing so. You need the mighty cult leader Jobs, he is the key to selling techno style over substance on a massive scale.
sparky 4:32PM (5/02/2008)
ummmm, is that a gas cap I see driver's side?
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sk 4:38PM (5/02/2008)
No, thats the plug
Jared 4:40PM (5/02/2008)
Tesla doesn't know how to build cars, but they sure do know how to write press releases and get free publicity.
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kentavos 5:17PM (5/02/2008)
I said it before and I'll say it again, this is a horrible idea. The above poster who said they completely missed the point of a dealership hit it on the head.
I like Tesla a lot. I've been a huge fan for a long time. But I don't see how this style of Hollywood dealership will ever make any type of financial sense.
Eventually you'll have to either scale back the free lattes and the salaried staff or start pushing sales to pay for the lattes and staff. Either way will make you look like a sell-out.
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