Tesla shifts gears on customer referrals
Tesla is reversing course on another customer-facing aspect of its business.
The electric vehicle manufacturer owned by billionaire Elon Musk recently decided against a plan to close almost all of its brick-and-mortar stores. Now Tesla is bringing back a recently shelved customer referral plan, but with a few changes.
In a corporate blog post attributed to The Tesla Team, Tesla said it is introducing what it calls an “all-new” customer referral program. The previous program was shut down in January 2019, due to what Tesla says were “significant costs.” By ending the program, Tesla said it could pass savings on to customers, which was the same rationale for initially deciding to shutter the majority of its physical stores.
“We’ve since restructured the program to save the company money while also offering rewards that are super exclusive,” the company states in the blog.
These new rewards include 1,000 miles of free vehicle supercharging for both the referring customer and their friend who purchases a Tesla with their referral code. In addition, each referral gives the referring customer a chance to win a Tesla Founder’s Series Model Y monthly and a Founder’s series Roadster supercar quarterly, both signed by Musk and Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen. Tesla owners who already have unlimited supercharging get two chances to win with each referral.
While Tesla said its decision to keep some stores open would result in cost increases on some vehicle models, the company has not specified if bringing back its referral program will have any effect on prices.
“The continued growth and excitement we've generated have been driven largely by the passion of our current and future customers,” concludes the blog post. “Our goal is simply to build the best and safest cars according to U.S. government testing, so that owners will share their experiences with others and help accelerate our mission towards a sustainable future.”
The electric vehicle manufacturer owned by billionaire Elon Musk recently decided against a plan to close almost all of its brick-and-mortar stores. Now Tesla is bringing back a recently shelved customer referral plan, but with a few changes.
In a corporate blog post attributed to The Tesla Team, Tesla said it is introducing what it calls an “all-new” customer referral program. The previous program was shut down in January 2019, due to what Tesla says were “significant costs.” By ending the program, Tesla said it could pass savings on to customers, which was the same rationale for initially deciding to shutter the majority of its physical stores.
“We’ve since restructured the program to save the company money while also offering rewards that are super exclusive,” the company states in the blog.
These new rewards include 1,000 miles of free vehicle supercharging for both the referring customer and their friend who purchases a Tesla with their referral code. In addition, each referral gives the referring customer a chance to win a Tesla Founder’s Series Model Y monthly and a Founder’s series Roadster supercar quarterly, both signed by Musk and Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen. Tesla owners who already have unlimited supercharging get two chances to win with each referral.
While Tesla said its decision to keep some stores open would result in cost increases on some vehicle models, the company has not specified if bringing back its referral program will have any effect on prices.
“The continued growth and excitement we've generated have been driven largely by the passion of our current and future customers,” concludes the blog post. “Our goal is simply to build the best and safest cars according to U.S. government testing, so that owners will share their experiences with others and help accelerate our mission towards a sustainable future.”