Tesla Motors will offer a US$1,000 bounty to Model S owners and buyers who take advantage of word-of-mouth referrals of the electric cars, chief executive Elon Musk said.
The referral bounty will be available to those who buy new Tesla cars – and those who refer them – until October 31. Musk said the programme, if deemed successful, could be extended to sales of used cars.
Such a referral programme is unusual but not unprecedented among traditional carmakers and their franchised dealers.
Musk, in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, described the referral programme as “a guerilla tactic against car dealers in certain states” that do not permit Tesla to sell its luxury electric cars directly to customers.
Tesla operates its own stores but does not use franchised dealers.
Nor does it do traditional advertising and marketing, although Musk said the company may change that policy in the future.