Tesla Service Centers will now include collision repairs

“Collison Repair is Here,” as CNBC reports a Tesla company message has proclaimed that their Tesla Service Centers will now include Collision Repairs. This note fulfills Elon Musk’s 2018 promise that Tesla consumers will one day have the option to renounce external collision shops for a sped-up first-party alternative. The message boasted Tesla’s ability to fix anything from “dents to scratches” to “suspension and axle damage.”

For Tesla, it’s all about accessibility. The company also announced that 46 more service centers will open in North America across the first half of 2021, expanding on the preexisting 140. This new service illustrates part of a larger revenue fraction for Tesla as pre-owned cars age out of their warranty. During 2020’s, Tesla reported a $678 million gain from their Services and Other segments, a 17% rise from their $580 million earnings in 2019.

As Tesla Vice President, Jerome Gullien states, the “best kind of service is no service.” Despite this, some customers have had weary occurrences with the automotive giant in recent months. With increasing difficulties reaching or scheduling service center appointments, it was up to investors to ask how Tesla hopes to improve their customer service. On a 2020 Q4 earnings call, Gullien replied, “So we spent a lot of efforts trying to improve the quality and the reliability of our cars. In the last two years the frequency of service visits are reduced by one-third, so customers have to come less frequently into service, which is really the goal, no service.”

Gullien additionally specified that Tesla offers mobile services where a Tesla service vehicle and mechanic will dispatch, rendezvousing with their customer and fixing their car at their convenience. As of 2020, 40% of all service visits arise from this mobile platform, in 2021 Tesla hopes to make that 50%. The company also plans on shifting from its phone, providing services to exclusively offer services through their app.

Gullien remarked, “The app is much better than the phone, it can spot alerts directly from the car and schedule a service appointment. There is a written record of all communication between the customer and the service team. You can have pictures in there. You can take care of your payment without entering the credit card and doing all that stuff. You get updates on the service.”