Tesla powers into Martin Place

The group’s new flagship store is not just a showroom – it’s an immersive retail experience.

The store will offer test drives of two Teslas starting from Martin Place.

Tesla Motors has opened a huge showroom in the middle of Sydney’s financial hub, in Martin Place where it thinks its prospective well-heeled customers lurk.

At ground level, Martin Place is a precinct for banks, cafes, law firms and big office blocks. It’s not where you’d see a big 500 square metre space with two Tesla model S cars on show. But Tesla is not any car maker.

People saw the huge showroom today for the first time after the wraps came off. They were in awe, tapping on the window, peering inside and taking photos. But they’ll have to wait until tomorrow before it opens to the public.

The showroom occupies the big ground floor and first floor areas of the refurbished 20 Martin Place, redeveloped by Pembroke Real Estate across the road from the Commonwealth Bank. Tesla’s plan for Martin Place has been public for at least nine months, but it’s surreal seeing big cars on display in the middle of a pedestrian precinct.

As well as Model S cars, there’s a Tesla S ‘skateboard’ chassis which displays its inner workings.

You can look over cars as in a traditional showroom, but on the first floor there’s an open space area where you can design and customise your own Tesla with the aid of an interactive display. You can mix and match duco and upholstery combinations with different dash trims, taking advice from staff along the way.

On the ground floor you’ll also see a Tesla Powerwall battery. Consumers can drop in, inspect it and seek out information about its use. Tesla says Sydney is the only store outside Hawaii showcasing the Powerwall.

Head of marketing and communications for Tesla Australia, Heath Walker, said the store would offer test drives of two Teslas starting from a car park underneath the store and via a back alleyway. Because of likely demand, people should book online beforehand. Test drives will operate during the day (except 12 noon to 2pm) and on weekends.

He said the proximity of prospective customers was only one reason for seeking visibility in Martin Place. “The other reason is Tesla is different to other automotive companies. We see ourselves as an energy and technology company first and a motors company second.

“We set up retail locations and we call them stores rather than dealerships intentionally because it’s more of an education process in this environment as opposed to a sales process. You might come here and get educated and make the bigger decisions at home or do it all in the one store at the one time.”

The Martin Place story is Tesla’s first retail-only store in Australia, and follows service centrestores in St Leonards, Sydney and Richmond, Melbourne. There’s also a permanent pop-up display at Chadstone shopping centre, in Melbourne’s southeast. Tesla also has a presence at Miranda shopping centre in Sydney, Westfield Doncaster east of Melbourne and Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast.

Mr Walker said the Martin Place store would be Tesla’s Australian flagship. “There’s not many (Tesla) stores of this size,” Mr Walker said. He said Tesla would continue to grow its retail footprint around Australia. He didn’t envisage a similar store in central Melbourne, saying instead Tesla was more likely to head to more shopping centres, where there was high foot traffic.

He wouldn’t reveal Tesla sale numbers in Australia. “We can’t give out numbers but the numbers are positive. I wish I could because it’s such a good news story. The take-up given the price is extremely high.” He said that globally, more than 100,000 Tesla vehicles had been sold.

Tesla today also announced there were now more than 100 destination chargers in service, with another 75 chargers planned for installation before year’s end.

It says its network of superchargers for quickly replenishing batteries will connect major cities along the east coast by year’s end.