Retail News CRM

Tag: showroom

  • Tesla rents second space in Korea to go Gangnam-style

    Tesla rents second space in Korea to go Gangnam-style

    Tesla Motors is preparing to open a second showroom in Korea in Gangnam, southern Seoul. Its first will open in the Starfield Hanam shopping mall in Gyeonggi in less than two months.

    A lease on three floors of a five-story building in Cheongdam-dong, 131-11, known as Yeongdongdaero 730 under the new address system, was signed by Tesla Motors Korea on Sept. 1. Tesla will rent the building’s basement, first and second floors through Aug. 31, 2021. The rent is 500 million won ($439,059) for the entire period, the document shows.

    The landlord is Bora Trading, a Seoul-based importer of Italian food products including the De Cecco pasta brand.

    Tesla made it official Sept. 2 that it would open its first Korea showroom in Starfield Hanam, a shopping mall that was opened Sept. 9 by retail giant Shinsegae, by December. The announcement came 10 months after the American electric vehicle pioneer opened an office in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul.

    Second showroom for Korea in a building in Cheongdam-dong, 131-11, 

    Tesla confirmed its rental in Gangnam.

    “We have just registered a building on Yeongdong Boulevard,” said Atsuko Doi, Tesla’s head of communications for Asia Pacific, in an email. She added the company hasn’t “planned in detail how we use it.”

    Regarding rumors among auto enthusiasts in Korea that Tesla may choose not to open the showroom in the 212-square-meter (2,281-square-foot) space in Starfield Hanam, she described them as “incorrect.”

    When visited on Monday by the Korea JoongAng Daily, the space Tesla has rented from Bora Trading was already under remodeling. Previously an Italian restaurant, the old interior was torn down completely. One of the workers on the scene said they are working on an automobile showroom without elaborating further. The process is expected to be finished in a month, which would indicate it could open in November at the earliest.

    There is speculation Tesla will open two showrooms simultaneously. The one in Gangnam will be more symbolic of Tesla’s attempt to be considered a luxury brand.

    Cheongdam-dong is Seoul’s swankiest area full of luxury-brand stores including Dior, Cartier and Hermes. Showrooms for Lamborghini, Ferrari and Bentley are less than 1 kilometer from Tesla’s space. Korea’s top automaker, Hyundai Motor, is scheduled to complete by 2021 a 105-story new headquarters just 1.6 kilometers farther down Yeongdong Boulevard.

    The building in Gangnam has been optimized to serve as a car showroom. It was established in 2004 by KUZ Plus, which was the official importer of Ferrari and Maserati until 2006. The floors are framed by huge glass windows to display vehicles.

    In Asia, the California-based company led by business magnate Elon Musk opened its first showroom in October 2010 in Tokyo’s trendy Aoyama district. Now there are three in Japan. Tesla runs 21 stores in China, three in Hong Kong and one in Taiwan, which opened in July.

     

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Volkswagen sets up shop in Malaysia to handle direct sales here

    Volkswagen sets up shop in Malaysia to handle direct sales here

    Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) Sdn Bhd will be the official distributor of Volkswagen cars in the domestic market.

    VPCM is managed by European automotive retail specialist, Porsche Holding Salzburg, the car distributor said in a statement.

    The announcement comes after a series of consolidation exercises within Volkswagen Malaysia over the past six months.

    Alin Tapalaga, one of two managing directors to lead VCPM, said the company would be increasing the Completely Knocked-Down model line-up, and continue to import Completely Built-Up models into the country.

    Moving forward, Volkswagen Group Malaysia will concentrate its business interest in Malaysia on the Audi brand, as well as its vehicle assembly operation in Pekan, Pahang.

    Meanwhile, VPCM is introducing a five-year manufacturer warranty for all Volkswagen cars purchased from today, while launching the new Jetta and all-new Passat within the next few months.

    The Volkswagen franchise in Malaysia was previously handled by DRB-Hicom Bhd.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Tesla may open first dealership in Korea

    Tesla may open first dealership in Korea

    Tesla Motors, the Silicon Valley-grown electric vehicle manufacturer, may open its first Korea dealership in a Shinsegae Group shopping complex within this year.

    “The talks are positive, for sure, but the final confirmation has yet to be reached,” said a Shinsegae Group spokesperson.

    “If the final confirmation is made, Shinsegae Property, which is pursuing the deal with Tesla, will give us notice,” he added.

    According to industry sources Thursday, if negotiations succeed, Tesla will open its first Korean dealership in Shinsegae’s Starfield Hanam shopping complex in Gyeonggi as early as November. The complex is a 30-minute drive from Seoul’s Gangnam District.

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk also confirmed Seoul as one of his next targets along with Taipei and Mexico City for the company’s high-end electric vehicles.

    “We are also accelerating store openings and plan to add a new retail location every four days on average during the remainder of Q3 and through Q4,” said Musk in an earnings report distributed Wednesday.

    “We are adding stores in new population-dense markets like Taipei, Seoul, and Mexico City, while also adding stores in our most mature markets like California,” he added.

    Scheduled to open early next month, Starfield Hanam is Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin’s ambitious project to make a retail complex that includes not only shopping venues but all sorts of entertainment- and leisure-related facilities such as a waterpark, cinema and aquarium. Korea doesn’t have such a complex.

    In addition to offering some 750 retail brands, the complex will also house Asia’s first BMW dealership that handles both the original BMW and Mini vehicles. Luxury motorcycle brand Harley Davidson will have a store that displays not only vehicles but also its clothes and accessories lines.

    Since last December, Tesla has been gearing up to enter Korea by registering the corporate name Tesla Korea Limited and sending out job advertisements for car dealers and mechanics.

    Korea’s retail giants have been sending out feelers to the prestige car company, counting on its attractiveness to the general public.
    Lotte World Mall in Jamsil District, eastern Seoul was considered a candidate to house a Tesla shop, but the negotiation fell apart early this year.

    Opening an independent dealership in Gangnam District was raised as another possible choice and Tesla is still reported to be considering that option.

    Tesla is known for a unique way of directly operating and managing its branches, instead of franchising dealerships as most carmakers do.

    Its first New York showroom, which Musk located in the funky Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn earlier this year, symbolizes the concept. It shows that a Tesla shop is not exclusively for car shoppers but is open to anyone interested in futuristic car technology. That also explains why many Tesla dealerships are in U.S. shopping malls.

    “The quality of our new locations is also improving as many shopping malls now consider us the new standard for an anchor tenant based on the amount of foot traffic that we draw and our very high revenue per square foot,” said Musk in the earnings report released Wednesday.

    If Shinsegae’s negotiations with Tesla succeed, its shop in Starfield Hanam will operate as a display until the Korean government allows the luxury electric vehicles on Korean roads

    In the meantime, Tesla’s second quarter earnings announced on Wednesday fell short of analysts’ expectations. It posted a $293 million net loss in the second quarter, a more than 60 percent drop compared to last year’s Q2 operating loss of $184 million.

     

    Lees ook: