Slashdot Mirror
Tesla Will Close Most of Its Stores, Only Sell Cars Online
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a call with reporters Thursday that the company will only sell its vehicles online. As a result, the electric carmaker will close most of its stores over the "next few months." The Verge reports: Tesla will keep some of its retail locations open, which the company described as "a small number of stores in high-traffic locations remaining as galleries, showcases and Tesla information centers." The decision to shift away from brick-and-mortar retail is necessary if the company is to remain financially sustainable, Tesla said. The company's finances have stabilized somewhat in recent months, but Tesla still operates on very tight margins. Tesla said in a blog post: "You can now buy a Tesla in North America via your phone in about 1 minute, and that capability will soon be extended worldwide. We are also making it much easier to try out and return a Tesla, so that a test drive prior to purchase isn't needed. You can now return a car within 7 days or 1,000 miles for a full refund. Quite literally, you could buy a Tesla, drive several hundred miles for a weekend road trip with friends and then return it for free."
The company announced the move at the same time it said it will finally begin to sell its long-promised $35,000 Model 3.
The company announced the move at the same time it said it will finally begin to sell its long-promised $35,000 Model 3.
It's literally the same as the previous post, but minus most of the information... and both were published by the same editor. What gives?
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Ummmm.
This is a mistake. A car is not like most other purchases, and while Teslas aren't cheap, Tesla isn't so far removed from traditional mass-market sales as to be able to take a page from luxury-performance makes like Ferrari and sell cars to buyers that haven't driven the particular model in question yet.
Sure, there are some people that would be willing to buy a car untested, but I don't think that's most buyers, and I don't care how good Tesla's return policy is, it's a huge hassle to buy something incredibly expensive and to then return it, especially when financing is involved. It's not zero-risk.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
You can still get a test drive. But also, Tesla doesn't need you. They've got thousands of people lined up to buy these cars. They're probably counting on word of mouth to keep things going for the foreseeable future, and from what I can tell, it's a viable plan.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
He really is. He started PayPal and that was a total flop! Good luck finding anyone who's ever heard of it anymore. SpaceX never did anything worthy of note, except blow up rockets before they went out of business. Now you have this failure of a company which has no mass market vehicles and doesn't have the highest market cap of any American car company. Besides, he makes all of his cars over seas, not in America, so I'm excited to see it fail. It's like everything he touches fails. What a con!