High-end electric car maker Tesla has said it wants to own its dealerships, rather than offer franchises.
The Detroit Free Press in the USA reports that it wants factory owned outlets in order to better control the retail experience.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120707/BUSINESS01/207070330/Tesla-takes-new-sales-approach
It said Tesla, which has a UK base in Maidenhead, has focused its retail experience in the USA to be more like a high street presence than a car showroom.
It has 'stores' rather than dealerships and its latest site in Santa Monica sits between a sports shop and a clothing outlet, and has parking and service off-site.
Its sales chief, who previously worked at Apple and Gap, says the company is deliberately trying to engage consumers when they are not thinking about buying a car.
Admittedly, Tesla is a young, low volume brand, but could this be a new way of working for motor retail? Comment below, or email am@bauermedia.co.uk with your views.
As editor, Tim is responsible for the media content, planning and production of AM's multiple channels (AM print and digital magazines, website, social media and contributing to our events planning). He interviews and writes about as many franchised dealer groups and UK divisions of motor manufacturers as possible, to explore the issues facing UK motor retail and understand what solutions dealers and suppliers are using to overcome these.
DanBrown - 16/07/2012 11:50
Motor retail in the UK is broken. Is a retail experience (VRE anyone?) the way to fix it? Maybe, but it'd take the brands and the big players to move together - plus dealer groups don't want to pay well to attract talent, they are driven by accountants who squeeze front-line pay down to the detriment of quality staff and quality customer service/experience.