When you think of Tesla dealerships and stores you may think the company is new may have only few dealerships in the US, but when you see how many stores and dealerships Tesla has in USA compared to brands like Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, you will be surprised.
There are currently 96 Tesla Dealers and Galleries in the US. Tesla SEO Elon Musk once has commented that this number will likely roughly double by the end of 2017 as the company starts delivering Tesla Model 3 pre-orders.
First I thought this is a small number compared to major and established car barnds' dealerships in the USA. I was thinking the major companies would have thousands of dealerships and what is Tesla's 96 dealerships and galleries compared to thousands. This would still put the new company in a certain disadvantageous position compared to old and established brands. I thought so until I researched some dealership numbers.
Ford, indeed, has thousands of dealerships in the United States. Ford has 3100 dealerships in the United States. GM has 4355 dealers in the nation. Chrysler has about 2.600 and Toyota has about 1,700 dealers in the United States servicing and handling its cars.
Now, these are big numbers, but this is not the case with Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Let's see how many dealerships these companies have in USA.
- Audi has 285 dealers.
- BMW 339 dealers.
- Mercedes 330 dealers.
By the end of 2017 Tesla will have nearly 200 dealerships in USA, which brings its number very close to that of Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
It's interesting how fast Tesla is gaining on the Premium market segment with its Model S, Model X and upcoming Model 3 pre-orders. Currently out of 96 dealerships and galleries only 26 provide after-sale services as far as I know, and Tesla needs to increase this number (the number of service centers in the United States) about ten times.