Tesla rolling out showrooms nationwide after record sales
Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla is gearing up to roll out full-scale showrooms across the country as sales ramp up.
Tesla opened an Auckland showroom on Karangahape Rd several years ago and planned to open its largest site yet in Ngauranga Gorge in Wellington.
The planned 3500m2 showroom would house up to 70 cars on Malvern Rd on a 9000m2 site.
The property’s agent, Bayleys, said the showroom would be built by luxury developer Gibbons Co.
It is understood it would open late next year.
Popularity of Tesla vehicles increased significantly since the Covid pandemic. As part of the post-lockdown spending boom, luxury car sales have been strong, with Teslas and BMWs popular.
There are estimated to be at least 10,000 Teslas on New Zealand roads. New registration figures from the Motor Industry Association (MIA) show 4361 new Tesla were sold in the year to October. This follows 3278 sales last year, 592 in 2020 and 801 in 2019.
Retail and property commentator Chris Wilkinson, managing director of First Retail Group, said Tesla had in recent years set up temporary distribution centres in Auckland and Wellington to fulfil orders ahead of rolling out their state of the art ‘‘super hubs’’.
‘‘Tesla had that first mover advantage and is a very slick operation, but limited in its models. It’s almost like the old model of Ford where they gave people very limited choices but promised to deliver a good vehicle,’’ Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson said the planned Wellington showroom would be the first in several main centres over the next few years. ‘‘For a brand like Tesla they will definitely be looking at sites in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton and likely Tauranga.’’
‘‘If we look at the number of Teslas that have been sold recently, and there have been many months where they have led new car registrations, it is highly likely that it is going to need some scale,’’ Wilkinson said.
Tesla’s Ngauranga Gorge site was one of the best in Wellington, visible as motorists entered the city, he said.
Tesla could challenge BMW for the number of vehicles on the road if sales continued as strong as they had been through this year, he said.
‘‘There’s definitely a novelty aspect to Teslas, but because it has been in the market for some time now it has given people confidence, and while new cars are coming out with electronic technology, the stability of the Tesla model and its endurance in the market that’s [behind the recent spike in sales].’’
Tesla has built delivery centres in Auckland’s Mount Wellington and Avalon in Lower Hutt, where owners are able to pick up new vehicles. It has more than 50 charging points and 15 Super Charger locations between Auckland and Queenstown.
The Texas-based car manufacturer has 38 job vacancies listed on
its website for a wide range of roles, including vehicle technicians for Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington, and a store leader for its Wellington site.
Growing demand for hybrid and electric vehicles helped drive a record number of new vehicle registrations last year. There were 165,287 new car registrations in 2021, of those over 23,000 were for electric vehicles.
The latest MIA figures show there were 14,736 new vehicle registrations in October, up 5.1% compared with October last year.
October registrations benefited from deliveries of back orders for electric vehicles. Sales of new electric vehicles have been on the rise since the Government introduced rebates of $8625 for new electric cars and $5750 for plug-in hybrid cars in July last year.