On Sunday March 10th, Tesla announced plans to keep a large number of its flagship stores open in the United States. The news comes as a reversal on Tesla’s announcement from last month which suggested the automaker would begin to transition away from its retail sales points in favor of an online sales-based strategy.
As of last month the company had planned to drastically decrease the number of its retail stores in the United States as part of an effort to reduce costs. But now, to offset the cost of keeping more than 50% of its retail establishments open than was planned as recently as last month, Tesla announced that it will raise vehicle prices by about 3% globally on the Model S and the Model X.
The company defended its position by stating that it had recently closed 10% of its retail locations because they did not invite “the natural foot traffic” the stores had been designed for. The company plans to keep certain stores in “high visibility” areas open but with reductions in on-site staff.
Tesla still plans to shift its global sales towards an online strategy. The company writes:
“All sales worldwide will still be done online, in that potential Tesla owners coming in to stores will simply be shown how to order a Tesla on their phone in a few minutes.”
Existing international retail stores are expected to have lower numbers of Tesla cars on hand for potential buyers though the company has promised it will still provide the cars should customers be interested in driving off with them immediately.
For the record, Tesla believes that its return policy should alleviate the need for most customers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was enthusiastic when he announced the policy: “If you buy a Tesla, you’ve got seven days — or 1,000 miles; whichever comes first — to return it”, a policy Tesla says eliminates the need for test driving.
Tesla customers interested in buying cars before the price increases go into effect will have until March 18th to complete their purchases.
Source: Tesla