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Local news station finds out why more than 300 Teslas are parked outside the mall
Down angle icon An icon in the shape of a downward pointing angle. Between 300 and 400 Tesla EVs are stored outside the Chesterfield Mall. Justin Sullivan/Getty
- Hundreds of Teslas are parked in front of a mall in Missouri, including dozens of Cybertrucks.
- The mall will close in October and Tesla needed space to accommodate surplus vehicles.
- Tesla saw a decline in EV sales last quarter, which came in at 90,000 lower than expected.
The Chesterfield Mall, which will close in October, has become an unexpected parking lot for hundreds of Tesla vehicles in recent months.
The Teslas, including Cybertrucks, parked outside the Chesterfield, Missouri shopping location confused people passing by, especially as the number of EVs seemed to increase over time.
A few weeks ago, local news station KTVI solved the mystery.
According to the report, Tesla is storing unsold vehicles in the mall until it closes.
Michael Staenberg, president of The Staenberg Group, owner of Chesterfield Mall, confirmed with BI that dozens of Tesla Cybertrucks, along with new Tesla Model Ys and Model 3s in various colors, are stored in the mall’s outdoor parking lot.
Staenberg said Tesla has occupied the space for about six or seven months and could stay until the mall closes in October. He said at least 90 groups were using the mall space for various purposes before it closed.
“It turns out that one of our users is Tesla, who has a dealership in the Valley, but they don’t have enough capacity at the dealership to park all the cars they bring in,” said senior vice president of leasing and development at The Staenberg. Tim Lowe Group, counted KTVI. “So they’re renting parking space to store their cars.”
Tesla has a dealership about 2.5 miles from Chesterfield Mall. Staenberg said 300 to 400 Teslas are stored in the parking lot.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Lots of inventory are not uncommon
Tesla isn’t the only car brand to store its unsold vehicles outside of a dealership.
Surplus vehicles are often stored in factories near production facilities, port facilities, distribution centers, transit complexes and rail yards.
Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne stores vehicles before transporting to dealers or other facilities. General Motors also has a centralized distribution facility in Grand Blanc, Michigan, where replenish stock.
EV manufacturers are struggling with oversupply
Electric vehicle sales across the industry have been affected as demand weakens – and Tesla is no exception. Last year, Tesla significantly lowered the prices of its electric vehicles, which resulted in lower profits.
Cox Automotive previously said As of August 2023, there are almost twice as many EVs as gasoline cars in dealerships.
At the same time, more electric vehicles were being produced than ever before, forcing dealers to refuse them because inventory was piling up.
Tesla reported its first year-over-year decline in quarterly deliveries in the last quarter. The electric vehicle giant sold about 386,800 cars in the first quarter of 2024, which was about 90,000 fewer than investors expected.
This is 20.1% lower from the fourth quarter of 2023 and 8.4% lower from the previous year. It also marked the company’s lowest quarterly performance since 2022.
Tesla cited several reasons for the drop in deliveries, including challenges in ramping up production of the new Model 3, an arson attack on his factory near Berlinand supply chain disruptions related to conflict near the Red Sea.