Tesla announced just a few days ago that it would close all its physical stores and go on sale exclusively online. However, the decision did not last long: the firm has rectified, now pointing out that only some stores will be affected and that there will be a price increase for their cars... What happened?
Change of plans at Tesla
Last month Tesla made an important announcement that would definitely change its sales dynamics. The Californian house announced that it was closing practically all its physical stores and that it was going to sell their cars only online. With this new way of managing its fleet, it introduced the possibility for the customer to return the car if, after testing it for a week (or a certain maximum number of kilometers traveled), they were not satisfied or liked it.
Update on Tesla Stores and Pricinghttps://t.co/Qx4MXamYd9
- Tesla (@Tesla) March 11th 2019
But something must have happened at the Tesla offices, because yesterday, Sunday, the house confirmed that it was not going to proceed to close all its stores. In a statement published on his official blog, Tesla points out that he has been thoroughly evaluating each physical store that he has throughout the world and has decided mantener a significant number of them open. Not only that.
The company has even decided to open some stores that were very well located but closed their doors due to poor performance. For get them back, they will allocate a smaller Tesla team that is in charge of giving these establishments life again. There are also 20% of locations that are currently under review and, depending on their effectiveness in the coming months, some will close and others will remain open.
Evidently all this change and keeping stores open it has a cost... and you will be the one to pay for it. To deal with this plan, Tesla has decided raise the price of their vehicles by 3% on average around the world. The price change will take effect from March 19, so that all those who are interested in buying a Tesla have until the 18th of this month to do so before suffering the increase.
Only a model is saved of this: the cheaper version of the Model 3 (yes, the $35.000 one), which keeps its tag intact. However, the rest of the versions of this electric car as well as the Model S and Model X will see an increase in their numbers.
Tesla ends its statement clarifying that the 7 days of "either you are satisfied or we will refund your money" continue and that when a potential customer goes to a physical store, what he will do is be able to see the cars (and even test them if he previously requests it) but the order will continue to be made "online".