Tesla's Hong Kong design studio offering test drives and interactive Model S design

Tesla has been expanding its horizons since the Model S super-sedan was conceived. Now that the Model S is in full production, Tesla is looking to expand into global markets where the demographic is favorable to clean, unique, super sedans for the very wealthy. One place that will work for Tesla is Hong Kong. The maker of ultra-exclusive electric cars has recently opened a new “Design Studio” on the island and has found customer reaction to be strong and positive.

Tesla markets its vehicles somewhat differently than say, Masaerati, or McLaren, companies with similar orders of magnitude of production. Rather than partner with local automobile dealers, Tesla takes its orders directly via an on-line reservation process. There are many reasons for this, but one big reason is that Tesla does not want to lose control of the educational, shopping, or service process for its automobiles. It is also trying hard to be the “outside the box” automobile company, many compare to the Apple of autos.

Customers visiting the Tesla location in Hong Kong can experience the Tesla Model S in two main ways. First, they may design their own Model S using a very large interactive touch screen. Tesla employees are on hand to help provide an overview of the vehicle and to answer any questions potential buyers might have. In addition, Tesla now also has a Model S on hand for real-life test drives. This is no small thing for the automaker who at last report had only delivered about 3500 Model S vehicles. Few customers will pay the $100,000.00 plus price tag that most Model S sedans that have been built come with without an actual drive in the vehicle, and this “dealer-demo” will go a long way to turning fully-refundable deposits into confirmed purchases. In a press release last night, Tesla provided the following customer feedback quotations after they had taken a test drive:

“Electric dreams. An amazing car - quiet, smooth, and pollution free at the tailpipe. My wife and I are longing to take delivery of our Model S.” --Mark Webb-Johnson

“A joy to drive! It’s smooth and elegant. This is like no other car. It’s fast and very responsive but most importantly it flies!! I for one will not miss the sound of revving engines! --Jasmine Webb-Johnson

“It was a lovely test drive, and it lives up to every description from the web, it is truly a must buy!” --Donald Chan

It is clear that Tesla is planning global domination of the sport-luxury electric vehicle market. Its expansion into Hong Kong would appear to be a wise move towards greater expansion in the Asian/Pacific markets where wealthy car enthusiasts may be looking for the next hot ride.