There's no free lunch

As the car industry changes, then the dealerships have to change. There's a whole new industry response being created by technological changes and those who do not adapt will lose out. The only constant in any business is change. Will this take time? Yes, but it is inevitable.

 

I have to wonder though...

With a 'normal' car, the dealer's service department has a lot of competition.

Many mechanics are scared of a hybrid, so the dealer has less competition.

Are they really losing customers, or just losing competition?

 

As the industry changes to hybrid or electric vehicles, dealerships will adjust. The competition will increase, the mechanic/technician will become more common and over time the "mechanic only" dealership will lose out. Plus there are other emerging technologies that are just starting to be marketed such as hydrogen fuel cells. All of which will end up being changes the industry will have to go along with.

 

Bingo.

Over the past two decades, we've seen an aftermarket develop just for Prius batteries. The market will adjust as its always had with new technology.

However, one of the big things I'm not sure mechanics are ready for are the increased understanding of software. I can see future mechanic technical courses starting to look more like computer science ones as the need to troubleshoot and debug computer software in current (and future) cars grow.

 

Cars already have a lot of code running them. Computers have been running engines, transmissions, and brakes for decades now.

There is a right to fix movement out there that wants to keep companies from locking out people from repairing their own stuff through non-company sources. I think it started with farm equipment using coding that only dealers could access.

 

The market will adjust, but repair skills will both become more specialized and become obsolete sooner. We are already seeing a kind of "Future Shock" in the shops with the loss/obsolescence of expertise and increase in costs for diagnostics and repair of specialized systems. I believe that is what is driving much of the DIY that you see here at PC. At some point though, the customers will have to consider the increased cost of maintenance when they buy new cars. The "cost of ownership" is already becoming significantly greater than the sticker price (almost double, if not greater, if you are buying a used hybrid or EV). Social media and DIY can only do so much.