Porsche Store - Square One Mall

[Struja]

Admitedly, I rarely go to the mall but I was forced to this weekend and I noticed a very Tesla-esque, Porsche "store" at Square One. Is this now a thing?

I mean are other car companies changing their business model? I guess it's working for Tesla so maybe cars in malls will become the norm.

 

[sakimano]

Yes

Mercedes-Benz opens store in Toronto-area mall to reach new customers

 

[Struja]

Yes

Mercedes-Benz opens store in Toronto-area mall to reach new customers

Maybe a reason to go to the mall after all!

 

[McRat]

I saw car stores in Paris set up like boutiques on Champs-Élysées. Only a few production cars, some were race cars or concepts, a coffee shop, an accessories store, and you could order cars using kiosks with the sales staff.

So I think the concept started in Europe?

 

[Bonlaw]

Lincoln opened a store in our very upscale Newport Beach, CA Fashion Island shopping center right around the corner from the Tesla store. Last time I was there, the Tesla store was overflowing with people; the Lincoln store was pretty dead.

 

[Struja]

Lincoln opened a store in our very upscale Newport Beach, CA Fashion Island shopping center right around the corner from the Tesla store. Last time I was there, the Tesla store was overflowing with people; the Lincoln store was pretty dead.

The concept of car shopping in the mall is pretty cool. What I found interesting is that I was at the car show a few years ago and the line up to sit inside the Model S was probably about 60 people long. It is interesting having a car that many want to get a good look at... I do my best to let people sit inside (I even take strangers for drives), but yes, the Telsa store in Yorkdale Mall always seems busy. The Porsche store in Square One was empty.

 

[Drone Flyer]

And it's only a "Porschean" of the size of the Tesla store!

 

[RiverBrick]

Porsche opened a similar store in the Dix30 shopping center (where a Tesla Supercharger is under construction) in Brossard last year. Group Park Avenue, which owns dealerships from several upscale brands, followed suite at the same center recently.

 

[Sonny Daze]

There is a mall outside Washington DC that has a Porsche store, but it only sells clothes, watches and other non-car stuff. What's even more odd is the Dyson store which has dramatically lit vacuum cleaners displayed like works of art.

 

[larmor]

Some car manufacturers get it and will themselves cut the dealers out.

 

[Drone Flyer]

There is a mall outside Washington DC that has a Porsche store, but it only sells clothes, watches and other non-car stuff. What's even more odd is the Dyson store which has dramatically lit vacuum cleaners displayed like works of art.

Yeah but the Dyson vacuums suck! Lol!

 

[TrevTremaine]

The problem going forward is that other manufacturers have vehicles on the road that need servicing. Moving away from the dealership model has the risk of lawsuits when owners cannot get those vehicles serviced. Tesla avoided all that by starting off with vehicles that inherently require less servicing along with the storefronts and company owned service stations. Think back to when GM got rid of Pontiac and Oldsmobile (or Ford getting rid of Mercury) - there were lawsuits galore both from owners and dealerships. It'll eventually have to happen - there's simply not enough of a profit margin for the dealership model to continue since a majority of their revenues come from servicing. The conversion process will be a costly headache for those manufacturers as well as the dealerships.

 

[VT_EE]

The problem going forward is that other manufacturers have vehicles on the road that need servicing. Moving away from the dealership model has the risk of lawsuits when owners cannot get those vehicles serviced. Tesla avoided all that by starting off with vehicles that inherently require less servicing along with the storefronts and company owned service stations. Think back to when GM got rid of Pontiac and Oldsmobile (or Ford getting rid of Mercury) - there were lawsuits galore both from owners and dealerships. It'll eventually have to happen - there's simply not enough of a profit margin for the dealership model to continue since a majority of their revenues come from servicing. The conversion process will be a costly headache for those manufacturers as well as the dealerships.

I'm hoping the franchised dealership model fails in the long-term. A model where the state government forces a manufacturer to use a middle-man for product sales seems very anti-American in my opinion.