Tesla has made waves in the automotive world not only with its all-electric Tesla Model S luxury saloon but, in the US at least, with its strategy of ditching traditional dealerships and setting up shopping mall outlets instead.

It’s been a subject that has sparked much controversy. Some states, like Ohio, allow Tesla to implement its direct sales model while others, such as Texas, have ruled against it. All in all, Tesla can currently sell its cars legally in 37 states.

This tactic, which eschews the dealership in favor of an Apple-like approach to the customer, has drawn the interest of Lexus. Toyota’s luxury division has seen its LS saloon sales fall and some of its executives have cited the Model S.

“The model that Tesla has to open up their outlets in shopping malls is a clever one and I think they’re getting a lot of folks to stop in and learn about Tesla”, Jeff Bracken, group vice president for Lexus at Toyota Motor Sales USA said.

Bracken told WardsAuto that mall stores are attractive because, as consumer research shows, younger customers “are not so excited” to visit traditional dealerships. “We’re interested to watch what Tesla does, how the business model works and what kind of customers wander into their outlets”, he added.

Does this mean that Lexus is thinking about going down the same road, with company-owned outlets instead of dealerships that work on commission?

“If we were ever to consider something like this, we would keep our dealers part of the solution, no question about it”, Bracken explained. “But it’s intriguing if young folks are telling us they don’t really look forward to going to a traditional dealership, but they still have an interest in buying a vehicle or shopping for a vehicle. If that’s an outlet that could work for them, then we need to take a look at that to see if that’s something that could make sense for us.”

It certainly makes sense for Tesla so far. In spite of a drop-off of 21.4 percent compared to last year, the company has still managed to shift 12,864 units in 2014, making the Model S the second best-selling luxury saloon behind the class-ruling Mercedes-Benz S-Class (22,444).

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