With brick & mortar locations closing who will be delivering Tesla vehicles?

[voip-ninja]

The closure of brick & mortar locations was a complete shocker to me. Lots of employees globally will be impacted. This will have more impact in some markets than others.... I see it being potentially very problematic in Europe and Asia.

I wonder if Tesla will only do @ home delivery or if they will maintain delivery specialists to deliver cars to customers out of service center locations.

The amount of info released today is mind bending.

 

[Garlan Garner]

The closure of brick & mortar locations was a complete shocker to me. Lots of employees globally will be impacted. This will have more impact in some markets than others.... I see it being potentially very problematic in Europe and Asia.

I wonder if Tesla will only do @ home delivery or if they will maintain delivery specialists to deliver cars to customers out of service center locations.

The amount of info released today is mind bending.

Are they closing all of them?

 

[voip-ninja]

Are they closing all of them?

They indicated some stores in high traffic areas would remain as showcases and would have brand ambassadors. Neither of those leave me with the impression that they will have people who will handle the ordering or delivering process.

$35,000 Tesla Model 3 Available Now

To achieve these prices while remaining financially sustainable, Tesla is shifting sales worldwide to online only. 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. With the highest consumer satisfaction score of any car on the road, we are confident you will want to keep your Model 3.

Shifting all sales online, combined with other ongoing cost efficiencies, will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point earlier than we expected. Over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores, with a small number of stores in high-traffic locations remaining as galleries, showcases and Tesla information centers. The important thing for customers in the United States to understand is that, with online sales, anyone in any state can quickly and easily buy a Tesla.

 

[PremiumPackage]

I mean they're not closing service centers, right? Right? A big part of the reason I was OK going with Tesla was the showroom/service center 5 miles from my house. I'm assuming they will layoff some sales people but the service center will stay open.

 

[voip-ninja]

I mean they're not closing service centers, right? Right? A big part of the reason I was OK going with Tesla was the showroom/service center 5 miles from my house. I'm assuming they will layoff some sales people but the service center will stay open.

They aren't closing service centers but they indicated that the majority of services would be done at your home or place of work which means a big shakeup there as well.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I mean they're not closing service centers, right? Right? A big part of the reason I was OK going with Tesla was the showroom/service center 5 miles from my house. I'm assuming they will layoff some sales people but the service center will stay open.

I hate layoffs.

 

[glide]

they indicated that the majority of services would be done at your home or place of work.

I believe it when I see it. That has got to be the most inefficient method of service possible.

Will service techs be sent out with all possible parts for your vehicle? Or does every service engament automatically turn into two visits?

 

[PremiumPackage]

They aren't closing service centers but they indicated that the majority of services would be done at your home or place of work which means a big shakeup there as well.

Thanks, color me extraordinarily skeptical.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Will service techs be sent out with all possible parts for your vehicle? Or does every service engament automatically turn into two visits?

In most cases, they know exactly what's wrong with the car and will bring all the necessary parts.

It's not like you call for service, and they show up and say "Ok, what seems to be the problem?"

 

[mattjs33]

Shocked to see this news too, how exactly this is going to work remains to be seen.

They also announce all sales online? Wasn't what they were doing already?

And it also reads pretty much that it will be impossible to test drive a car first. No demo units? I would not invest that much money in a purchase without a test drive first, and I imagine many people would feel the same.

 

[buckerine]

Shocked to see this news too, how exactly this is going to work remains to be seen.

They also announce all sales online? Wasn't what they were doing already?

And it also reads pretty much that it will be impossible to test drive a car first. No demo units? I would not invest that much money in a purchase without a test drive first, and I imagine many people would feel the same.

Yeah, I’m not sure I get this part either. All sales were already done online. The only thing this can really mean is that they’re closing substantially all of their stores and getting rid of all of their sales staff.

Which, yes, probably means no test drives. And which is why they decided to provide returns within 7 days. But how is that going to work with loans? The loan doesn’t quite take effect until after 7 days have elapsed?

 

[kengchang]

Shocked to see this news too, how exactly this is going to work remains to be seen.

They also announce all sales online? Wasn't what they were doing already?

And it also reads pretty much that it will be impossible to test drive a car first. No demo units? I would not invest that much money in a purchase without a test drive first, and I imagine many people would feel the same.

You get 7 days 1000 miles test drive

 

[Eno Deb]

You get 7 days 1000 miles test drive

Being able to return a purchased car is not exactly the same though. Liquidating assets or lining up a loan to come up with $35-$50k seems like a lot to ask for a test drive ...

 

[mattjs33]

You get 7 days 1000 miles test drive

Sorry, but I don't make those kind of decisions off the cuff. I want to see certain things like, will it fit me? How do I like the way it drives? How do I like how I can see out of it? The way the brakes feel?

Telling me I can return it if I don't like it does nothing to give me confidence in my purchase decision before the fact.

 

[Eno Deb]

I mean they're not closing service centers, right? Right? A big part of the reason I was OK going with Tesla was the showroom/service center 5 miles from my house. I'm assuming they will layoff some sales people but the service center will stay open.

I hope so. If they are only closing the stores it's not a big loss IMO. Every time I walk by the store in San Jose it's empty with 4-5 employees just standing around. I can't imagine that they are making back the money for the lease in this prime location.

 

[HankLloydRight]

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.

This sounds too much like Elon wrote it himself. He loves using that phrase "you could quite literally...".

It sounds A LOT like his promise back in 2013/2014 that all service loaners were going to be the top-of-the-line premium/performance models, and if you took one while your car was in for service and liked it, you could "keep it" (and pay the difference of course). That ended up never happening when Tesla realized the cost of outfitting all their service centers with highly optioned new cars.

It also sounds like Elon's promise of the supercharger network cross country trip: "You could literally pack a lunch and stay with friends, and leave your wallet at home".

I just see the bean counters realizing that offering the general public a free 7 day 1000 mile "test drive" is going to become infeasible oh, in about a month when people start abusing that policy. Once a car comes back with 1000 miles on it, Tesla has to sell it as an inventory car, with a discount. And there's lots of transaction costs with taking a car back (on both sides). So this is a bad policy right from the start. Elon is a brilliant guy, but he fundamentally doesn't understand human nature.

 

[ucmndd]

Delivery centers plus home delivery.

 

[ucmndd]

I just see the bean counters realizing that offering the general public a free 7 day 1000 mile "test drive" is going to become infeasible oh, in about a month when people start abusing that policy.

I just don't see this being a problem. People don't go out and secure financing for a car or cut a $40k+ check for a weekend joy ride.

 

[Lifeinabox]

In most cases, they know exactly what's wrong with the car and will bring all the necessary parts.

It's not like you call for service, and they show up and say "Ok, what seems to be the problem?"

And I'm sure run the analysis of X% of service appts are for issues that can be addressed through mobile service. It certainly beats expanding out service centers to rival ICE dealers.

 

[mattjs33]

Delivery centers plus home delivery.

Weren't the shops basically just delivery centers already? T

They want to deliver 5000K cars a week by home delivery? Who is going to do this?

Or are they assuming that soon the car will just drive itself to your house once you've paid online?

Elon REALLY wants cars to be commodities, but they just aren't. Not many people are going to buy a car without test driving it, and then oh well return it if I don't like it.