January 26, 2017

Spy video: Tesla beginning to market Model 3 in European stores

Usually, in the business world, it’s considered a good idea to encourage customers to buy your product. However, if you’re sailing through uncharted territory in a new and rapidly evolving industry, it sometimes makes sense to throw out even the most basic of rules. And when you already have nearly 400,000 orders for a product that isn’t going to be available for another year, and that you won’t be able to produce in enough numbers to meet demand for some time after that, it might be time to try some “anti-selling.”

Above: Spy photo of Tesla Model 3 (Image: CleanTechnica)

In a conference call following Tesla’s release of its third-quarter financial results, CEO Elon Musk said that that’s just what sales personnel are doing with Model 3. “When somebody comes into our store to buy a Model 3, we say well why don’t you buy a Model S or an X instead? So we anti-sell the 3.” According to Musk, the first year of Model 3 production is already sold out, so why not have a go at upselling the customer to an S or an X, which they can buy right away? A lot of people order a Model 3 anyway, he said, but it’s worth a try. Back in 2015, Tesla employed the same strategy with regard to Model X.

Above: Tesla just changed the "3" from a symbol to the numeral on their website (Image: Tesla)

In general, Tesla is the least “salesy” of automakers - a study by market research firm Pied Piper ranked the brand dead last when it came to salesmanship. While sales gurus doubtless consider that a great failing, car buyers may see things differently. Tesla employees eschew the typical car dealer hard sell because they know it’s one of many things about the current auto industry that consumers hate.

Above: New spy video shot of a Tesla Model 3 clip being played at a Tesla store in Zaventem, Belgium (Instagram: egearmedia)

All that said, Tesla is beginning to take some steps to market the upcoming Tesla Model 3. Recently, visitors to the company’s European sales centers have noticed a nifty little video of the new Model 3 playing on the wall screens. It’s only a few seconds long, and it’s nothing that you could really call a commercial. However, it’s the first spot of its kind that’s been seen in stores, and that’s kind of exciting - this short video clip may be subtly announcing that a new era of transportation is about to begin.

*Update: Although we haven't seen any Model 3 teaser videos inside Tesla stores (here in Florida), it appears that various stores have been playing similar teaser videos. How do we know? This story was floating around social media and the forums today, and, it turns out Model 3 fans also pointed out two other (fairly) high-quality Model 3 teaser videos with differing content in Tesla stores, check them out below...