Tesla buddies up with luxury watchmaker for special edition Roadster

Tesla Motors has been fairly quiet since filing for its IPO last month, aside from announcing that it will now be leasing its electric Roadsters for $1,658 a month. Today, it released a fun bit of news: it will be teaming up with Swiss luxury watch company Tag Heuer to produce a special edition of its Roadster.
The vehicle will make its debut at the Geneva Auto Show this week. The idea is for both brands to get a global boost from their mutual prestige. Tag, which is unveiling a new tech-savvy watch on March 18, has yet to become a major presence in the U.S., and Tesla is still building its presence in Europe. Incidentally, Tag just dropped Tiger Woods as its celebrity spokesperson.
The car itself, designed by Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen, integrates Tag design features into the dashboard, center console and exterior. The gray color scheme and swoopy racing stripes were selected to embody the Tag aesthetic. The car will also make an appearance at the globe’s largest watch exhibition, called Baselworld in Switzerland.
This is the first time Tesla has partnered with another luxury brand for cross-promotional purposes. It’s an interesting move for the company, considering how much flak it has taken for being such an elite product. Last year, a rash of analysts questioned why the government was sinking so much money — namely a $456 million loan — into a company that makes cars for the top 1 percent of the population.
That said, Tesla actually plans to discontinue its Roadster line in 2011 in order to focus on the Model S. In the past, it has been clear that the Roadster was launched to attract attention to the company, and to raise funds to make a more affordable, family sedan possible. Early Roadster buyers are not thought of simply as customers, but rather investors in this evolving technology, Tesla says.
Given that building the brand is the primary goal before launching the Model S for the mass market, image-boosting deals like the one with Tag will probably become more common, for both Tesla and its competitors with similar strategies, like Fisker Automotive.
Companies: Tag Heuer, Tesla Motors