May 5, 2017—In an effort to improve the customer experience with out-of-warranty body repair, Tesla intends to open its own auto body shops in late 2017, the company recently announced to shareholders.
Tesla acknowledged the move in a company letter to investors, but provided limited details. The OEM also plans to expand the existing network of third-party Tesla certified body shops.
It remains unclear how many first-party body shops Tesla plans on opening in 2017, or what its longterm strategy is.
The OEM also announced this week that it plans to add more service facilities worldwide, in addition to sending mobile technicians to customers.
“This year, we plan to add nearly 100 retail, delivery and service locations globally, representing an approximately 30 percent increase in facilities,” Tesla noted, in the aforementioned company letter. “... We also plan to add more than 100 mobile repair trucks in Q2 alone.”
