Editor's Commentary: When Will The Free Ride End For Tesla?

 

 

Several weeks ago when we reached out to Tesla for an interview to talk about their future in the automotive indsutry, the communication team sent us a standardized reply stating they were unavailable for interviews. However, a week later we noticed that the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, was making his round, appearing on a new nightly show. Yes, we realize the marketing strategy is get as much major exposure as possible, ignoring the smaller outlets. Furthermore, the company, as far as we can tell, isn't spending a dime on advertising. 

Automaker to Make House Calls

Typically, when we think of someone making a house call, we think of a service repairman. However, there is one automaker going the extra mile - keeping customers out of their shops. Tesla automotive, the maker of the high-end $100,000 plus electric sports car, is launching a maintenance plan where mechanics travel to owners' homes or offices to perform repairs and tuneups.

Tesla isn't the first automaker to travel down this road before, offering a mobile service. Chrysler, Mercedes, Lexus and others have offered this service before, too. While this sounds like a novel idea, from all indications the service won't be cheap.

Tesla will charge vehicle owners $1 for every mile its technicians travel, from showroom to garage, with a minimum charge of $100 per trip. We guess if you can afford to pay over $100,000 for a vehicle, you shouldn't moan about paying the service repair travel expense. If you're near a dealer, your expense will be less than those far away from a Tesla dealer. Just wondering: Could this be the next phase of improving the service customer experience? Let's see where Tesla ranks in the industry-wide customer service survey next year before we judge.