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Do EVs break the dealership model? Tesla thinks so.

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by austingreen, Oct 23, 2012.

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  1. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Well since the article is about the US, and Europe is a collection of countries, not a single one, you should probably think about what is applicable. Certainly what you say does not work in England, France, or Germany. Which countries do you think your knowledge applies. I have also seen idiots that own car dealerships, not that you are one, but being a car dealer in one country doesn't mean you understand the business in anouther, and you have shown a great deal of ignorance.


    No one said to a different dealership. They would sell them a different car from the same dealership. Or split the commission with their buddy at that dealership.


    Again this is not the case in the US. If you have an example and a country I will tell you why it does not apply here, but you seem to just have this fantasy that this happens in North America, and have not read what I have written nor understand much of anything about dealerships here.

    According to oh yes, the guy that says Europe is a country.
    That is your opinion, and most of us seem to disagree with you. They want company stores so that they can sell more cars. Musk fairly well explained why the dealership model does not make sense for tesla, and yes if they sell more cars they will make more money.
    We do have the example of a congressmazn that is mad at GM and sells some people that want chevys hyundais. He feels mistreated by gm. He also owns both dealerships. Who said they would send them to a different ownership company. That was nowhere in what I was writing.
    Again, sure there might be a tesla show room next to that bmw show or lexus show room with cars on the same lot. But with only an S then an X, they may just stick them in the same showroom. Since you don't seem to understand US dealerships you just keep poking a straw man. Stop while you are behind.
     
    #21 austingreen, Oct 30, 2012
  2. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

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    All you actually need is:
    - A way to test the vehicle
    - A way to service the vehicle

    The rest of the process can be done online and, just like other shopping, by cutting out a lot of the bricks and mortar the overheads can be reduced. What happens to the savings is up to the manufacturer and consumers.

    The releases of the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt should make it clear what an albatross the US model is.
     
    #22 ItsNotAboutTheMoney, Oct 30, 2012
    drinnovation and austingreen like this.
  3. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    In the US dealerships have consolidated. It used to be that an owner was tied to one manufacturer. Now we have the automall or one owner has several properties each for a different manufacturer. For example Holman sells Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, Ford, Honda, Infinity, Lincoln, Toyota, Mini, BMW, Cadillac, Rolls Royce, Scion, & Volvo.

    Dealers or brick & mortar stores provide a service. Product can be seen & driven. Product can be be purchased immediately. Maintenance & repairs can be performed. These stores cost money but are necessary.

    For the buyers that know what they want and can wait why shouldn't they be able to place an order with a manufacturer and get the product delivered to their doorstep? How does the dealer's overhead improve this buying experience or save money? One can buy a printer from HP or a store and pay the same amount (within 5c.)

    What's the problem with the people employed in these locations being employees of the manufacturer? Beacon Oldsmobile-Chevrolet in East Windsor, NJ was owned by GM before it was closed. I don't believe they caused the collapse of GM.

    I don't approve of everything Tesla is doing but I like the idea of dealing with the manufacturer directly.

    Problems with on line sales didn't just happen with Nissan & Chevy. In January 2009 I did not have a pleasant experience pre-ordering a Prius.

    Chrysler & GM closed a lot of franchises. How did that affect car prices?
     
    #23 JimN, Oct 31, 2012
  4. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Ok, so far so good.

    They actually can, but it not from the auto manufacturer under current regulations.

    I thought that was illegal except for short term situations. All tesla is saying is they ought to be able to own dealerships and train people.

    +1

    Those big auto companies could learn a few things from high tech companies.


    Some insight
    G.M. Notifying 1,100 Dealers That They Will Be Dropped - NYTimes.com
    I don't think the companies would be viable today if they had kept so many low volume dealerships. The manufacturer needs to support inventory on those lots, which caused a negative spiral of discounts (factory incentives) to clear out inventory. This does lower costs to consumers, but puts that company in bankruptcy. Forcing too many dealerships, means that either those companies go out of business and less competition raises prices, or the government has to keep bailing them out. Discounts on GM and Chrysler vehicles have dropped since dealerships closed.
     
    #24 austingreen, Oct 31, 2012
  5. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    One More Time: Tesla Versus Dealer Association, Texas Style

    I didn't know the barriers in TX were so bad.

    The statement below is comical, esp. given the anecdotal reports we hear time to time of crappy dealers, esp. ones that don't know the product they're selling.

     
    #25 cwerdna, Mar 31, 2013
  6. rico567

    rico567 Junior Member

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    Discussions on EV car forums are like Internet forums peopled by cognoscenti of modern art. The number of people who own, or the smaller number who actually know anything of the pros and cons of EVs is still vanishingly small. Dealers whose bread & butter is ICE vehicles will be AT BEST ambivalent about selling EVs. Their level of knowledge used to do a good sales job on the average consumer is almost certainly risible at this point in time. Another decade or two of EV / hybrid growth, perhaps a different story, but.....not now.
     
    #26 rico567, Apr 1, 2013
  7. John H

    John H Senior Member

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    IMO, the best sales channel for EVs are existing customers.
    Existing dealerships are built around a business model that requires significant revenues from frequent service and maintenance associated with ICE vehicles and the post sales revenues from EVs seem to be less frequent.

    With typical repair times of 1 week or more for an ICE at a dealership, the prospect of loading an EV onto a trailer to have it serviced out of state and returned while using a loaner seems like a minor inconvenience.
     
    #27 John H, Apr 1, 2013
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