Can Tesla keep selling cars with no ads and shuttered showrooms?
In 2018, of the 140,000 Tesla Model 3s sold, 78% of the sales were made through the website. Tesla also appeals to a deeply unusual user: affluent technology enthusiasts, invested in the Tesla brand and comfortable with buying online.
82% of buyers last year didn’t even take a test drive. For these core devotees, the move is unlikely to affect their interest, just as Tesla’s no-advertising model hasn’t hindered its publicity.
But we say Sri Lankan context will be different upon the online presence of the target market.
![Elon wired](https://evrally.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/elon-wired.jpg)
On April 8, 2019, Bloomberg revealed that Tesla had laid off dozens of sales staff from Tesla showrooms in Chicago, Brooklyn, New York and Tampa. The news came a month after Musk wrote an internal email to Tesla employees describing how the electric car firm would shift away from brick-and-mortar stores in favor of online sales.
But are these are the actions of a cash-strapped company struggling to shore up its bottom line, or a visionary firm choosing to shun stores because the majority of its customers prefer to shop online anyway? It’s complicated.
However, the dealership business model is a costly affair as its been proven over centuries. Over 20% of the new car sold will be gone as dealership costs. Also, the dealership business model makes lots of money by providing after-sales services, where EV s require no costly maintenance.
Interesting times ahead, with no dealerships, just direct sales, made online. It will be a tough to swallow for traditional companies who maintain costly dealership structures, in both Sri Lanka and globally.