Premium electric carmaker Tesla Motors has announced it will begin distribution of its Model S sedan from its new 6,000-square-metre European distribution centre at Tilburg in The Netherlands. It is the first time the vehicle has been distributed outside of the US since it was introduced last June and the carmaker said the move was part of a wider move to begin worldwide distribution of the vehicle.

The Tilburg facility will also serve as Tesla’s European service and parts headquarters, as well as the final assembly and distribution point for Model S vehicles sold in Europe.

Production of European left-hand drive Model S is planned to begin in March 2013.

The centre has already begun to stock parts for both the Tesla Roadster and Model S for more efficient delivery to customers in Europe.

In addition to parts warehousing, Tesla plans to use the facility for vehicle importing operations, final vehicle assembly and distribution, service headquarters, technical training operations, parts remanufacturing, collision repair and more. The company declined to comment on the logistics partners it would be using for these functions.

According to a statement from Tesla the centre will lead to the creation of approximately 50 jobs in the next few years.

The location of the Tesla European Distribution Center in Tilburg follows almost two years of on-going cooperation between Tesla, BOM Foreign Investments, NFIA (Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency), CBRE Group and the City of Tilburg.

*In other news from The Netherlands, Mitsubishi has revealed that it will sell its NedCar plant to local busmaker VDL Groep for €1 ($1.23) on condition that the company retain all 1,500 staff currently employed there. Mitsubishi is focusing on emerging markets and has started new production lines in Indonesia and Thailand this year.