Elon Musk ‘hopes’ to open Tesla store in Slovakia next year

Bratislava, Slovakia – Confirming long-standing rumours about the electric car-maker’s expansion in Central and Eastern Europe, Tesla CEO Elon Musk this week said that Tesla would be opening a new store in Slovakia, as well as Croatia and Serbia in 2020.

Replying on Twitter to a concerned customer asking when we could expect a Tesla store in Slovakia, Musk answered: “Hoping to open in Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia & most of Eastern Europe early next year”.

“Finally, we will do Nikola Tesla proud by having his cars in his countries of origin”, he added – referring to the famous inventor Nikola Tesla, an ethnic Serb born in Smiljan, in the Austrian Empire and modern-day Croatia, before emigrating to the United States.

Electric car-maker Tesla has been rapidly strengthening its foothold and physical presence throughout Central and Eastern European countries in recent months as demand for its iconic car models grows.

Slovakia already has two Tesla Superchargers installations, according to the car-maker’s official website.

The car-maker is yet to open stores in a number of CEE countries, where customers still have to order their model online and purchase them in neighboring countries, mainly in Germany, or import them.

Industry insiders have long pointed out the insufficient number of Tesla stores in Europe, some claiming that the car-maker “needs an extra 60-80 shops, most with at least some mobile service units” in the EU to meet the market’s needs.

Earlier this year, Tesla launched its cars in the Czech Republic and opened a new service centre in Prague. It also made its Model 3, Model S and Model X cars available for purchase in Hungary and Poland, as well as Romania and Slovenia, during the summer. Although Warsaw already has a Tesla service center, another one is expected to open in Budapest in the near future.