In 2019, Tesla tried to move away from showrooms entirely in favor of online sales, but nothing came of it — buyers want to see the cars live, touch them, test drive them and enjoy the process of choosing the right model. Moreover, against the backdrop of increased competition in China, Tesla came up with a new showroom format called the Tesla Giga Laboratory. The pilot “lab” opened last weekend in the Chinese city of Chengdu, its main attraction is the demonstration of “guts” and the assembly process of Tesla electric vehicles.
Tesla made a statement about abandoning showrooms in favor of online sales in February 2019 amid chronic losses, so the company tried to reduce the cost of distributing its cars. Customers met the innovation with hostility, and already in March of the same year, Tesla corrected its statement and promised to reduce the network of showrooms by 50%, and not eliminate it completely. In fact, according to the American magazine Electrek, over the past four years, the network of Tesla outlets has more than doubled to about a thousand units, that is, the 2019 strategy was not only not implemented, but changed to the opposite, there were no fewer car dealerships, but more. However, today Tesla can afford it and is experimenting with the showroom format.
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Tesla's first Giga Laboratory showroom opened in China, where Tesla's business is currently not going well due to increased competition from local, Chinese brands. Tesla sold 177,385 electric vehicles in China in the first four months of this year, according to CAAM (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers), which is 3.4% less than in January-April 2022. For comparison, let's say that the current leader of the Chinese car market, BYD, sold 667,899 cars (+ 70.3%) over the same period, in addition, many European and American brands now also offer quite competitive electric vehicles in China.
A new approach to the design of showrooms should encourage the Chinese to buy Tesla electric cars. Tesla Giga Laboratory in Chengdu is stylized as an assembly shop: it has a cool gray and white palette of design and hard constructivism, but at the same time, of course, there is comfortable furniture and shelves with branded merchandise.
The atmosphere of the workshop is mainly influenced by several installations showing the stages of the assembly process of Tesla electric vehicles and the arrangement of key components. It is unlikely that the average Chinese consumer will experience awe and awe at the sight of an inverter or a welding robot preparing to “sting” the unpainted body of a Tesla Model 3, but in general, the cyberpunk-style showroom makes an impression – it seems that you are in one of the episodes of sci-fi movie.
Let's add that demonstration of production in order to attract customers is a rather old technique and is used He's not just in the auto business. The Volkswagen concern, for example, launched an entire Glass Manufactory in Dresden in 2002 (now Volkswagen ID.3 electric hatchbacks are being assembled here), its visitors can literally see the entire process of producing electric vehicles, and not separate frozen scenes, as in the Tesla Giga Laboratory. Also, the Volkswagen concern at the head plant in Wolfsburg has a whole branded amusement park called Autostadt – a kind of analogue of VDNKh, with pavilions of various brands, restaurants, park areas, attractions and huge multi-storey flasks full of cars. In short, Tesla still has room to grow in customer entertainment.
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