According to Auto Week, the company has opened its first dealership in Los Angeles.

The dealership will be selling Tesla’s two-seater roadster. It is said to look like an ad agency or hip restaurant, with exposed beams and ductwork and mirrored front glass. The service department is open so customers can see what is going on with their cars.

The 10,000 square foot facility cost about $2 million to create. The employees, unlike a standard dealership, work for Tesla and the sales staff is paid a salary, not a commission.

So far the company has received 600 "Sold" orders and has compiled a waiting list of 400 more. Only four cars have been manufactured. The slowdown is being blamed on a development “glitch” with the two-speed transmission which is being supplied by Magna. The glitch has caused a redesign into a one speed transmission.

The next Tesla dealership will open in Menlo Park, California in the summer. Plans call for four more stores to open in New York, Miami, Seattle and Chicago. It is expected that these stores will be operational by the first quarter of 2009.

Our take? Anyone got a hundred grand for us to borrow?