Electric sports car maker Tesla opened up its first dealership in Los Angeles on Thursday, which will realistically only take orders well until next year, as the entire promised 2008 production run of 600 Roadsters has been pre-sold. The 10,000-square foot dealership is clean and open, with salaried as opposed to commissioned sales staff.
“We wanted a nontraditional automotive experience, and we have it,” said Tesla founder Elon Musk of his company’s first store in an Automotive News report.
The second Tesla store is expected to open by the summer in California’s Menlo Park, with four more in New York, Miami, Seattle and Chicago scheduled by next April.
Thus far, the dealership doesn’t have much to sell except a promise of clean and spirited motoring, since apparently only four cars have been produced. The young electric sports car builder hopes to have 300 cars built by December, when monthly production should grow to 150 cars a month.
The car, priced at $109,000, is currently assembled in Lotus ’ England factory, with the battery pack made in California. Eventually, however, when transmission woes are worked out and a US factory is set-up, the car’s production will move Stateside.
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