Car manufacturers Tesla and Opel are showcasing their vehicles in two German shopping centres run by ECE.
ECE, the Hamburg-based European shopping centre specialist, has signed long-term leases for store space with the two companies.
German car maker Opel opened a store at Milaneo shopping centre in Stuttgart on Friday, 1 September. The regional car dealership, Autohaus Staiger, has leased shop space of 170 m2 on ground floor. The salesroom and showroom will enable visitors to see the car models available and arrange appointments for test drives.
Two or three vehicles will be on display in the store. In addition, customers will have the opportunity to customise their own car online. These can then be ordered in the store or at home from the online shop. A number of test-drive cars are available on the parking deck.
Tesla opened its first store at Alstertal-Einkaufszentrum (AEZ) in Hamburg on 11 August. The US-based electric car maker will showcase its award-winning car models S (sedan) and X (SUV) on a shop space of 150 m2. The store also features the interactive Tesla Design Studio.
Visitors can also arrange test drive appointments and several EV charging posts provided by Tesla are located in the parking garage of AEZ. Tesla has 18 locations in Germany and has already delivered more than 200,000 electric vehicles worldwide.
'We are always on the lookout for new brands and interesting concepts. Together with Tesla and Opel we would like to show that cars can be sold in another way than in a plain car dealer's store located outside the city. An effective connection of online and offline shopping using the latest technology is required to make this work,' said Alexander Otto, CEO of ECE.
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Image: Tesla store at Alstertal-Einkaufszentrum Hamburg (photo: Anna-Lena Ehlers)
