SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It is not what you expect to find parked outside a boarded-up movie theater.
Hundreds of gleaming new Tesla vehicles — including nearly a dozen Cybertrucks — filling every space.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Este cine de Scottsdale está cerrado y ahora se almacenan cientos de Teslas en el estacionamiento de la propiedad
The North Scottsdale parking lot near Northsight Boulevard and Arriba Drive caught the eye of one user on X, who posted:
“Just found one of those parking lots full of hundreds of abandoned Teslas in Scottsdale, Arizona! Holy f***, they’re real lmao.”
The post took off faster than a Model S Plaid and has been viewed more than 7.7 million times. Some commenters said the parking lot was evidence a cooling electric vehicle market. Others speculated the cars were the result of buyer’s remorse; Tesla owners probably traded them in.
Tesla shares dropped 6.5% in April when the company revealed it produced 47,000 more vehicles than it delivered in the first quarter of 2024, according to an earnings report.
Were these parked cars part of that excess inventory?
12News reached out to Tesla for answers but did not get a response. Instead, we drove less than a mile down the street from the movie theater parking lot to a Tesla delivery center.
Unlike traditional car dealerships, Tesla cars are sold exclusively online. Once purchased, the vehicles are shipped to delivery centers. There are three in the Valley and one in Tucson.
12News spoke with two different Tesla employees, including one who was aware of the social media post. They both said the movie theater lot is used to store Tesla vehicles that have been purchased, shipped and waiting for their new owners to pick them up.
The parking lot of the delivery center on Raintree Drive can’t hold them all.
A handful of users on X were quick to point this out.
“You guys know that this is basically the equivalent of their dealership lot right? They sell exclusively online so instead of tons of active dealerships, you see this,” one user commented.
“These are all new inventory cars waiting for delivery,” another person wrote.
A quick Google Street View search shows the movie theater lot has been used since at least 2021. A Google image shows two semi-trucks unloading Tesla vehicles.
We saw another semi-truck pull into the lot Monday to unload seven Tesla cars. Many of the stickers had manufacturer dates of early June.
A Tesla employee told 12News the Scottsdale delivery center does not store unsold inventory.
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