Ford CEO says EVs will be sold 100% online with nonnegotiable price

Post by wumpus » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:26 AM UTC

dghlsakjg wrote: post #118

c4wrd wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, we lose a lot, some things practical and others societal. Practically first, when I’m in the market for a new vehicle, I’m not sure which I honestly want. I like being able to go to a dealership and find something that convinced me otherwise from what I came to originally look at it. In the most recent case, I was really wanting a truck and being able to see them in person, how I fit, etc, was what sol…

Just a note, If you want to go sit in a Tesla or test drive one, you can still do that despite a complete lack of dealerships. In my experience, a Tesla is the only showroom experience where there was 0 pressure, and no-one trying to get my info or photocopy my driver license just to see the inside of a car. A lack of dealerships does not mean that there are no showrooms or test drives. There's nothing stopping Ford,…

Post by lotsofpulp » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:26 AM UTC

SamuelAdams wrote: post #126

paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

The way I've heard it explained before, feel free to correct me if my facts are wrong: State sales taxes. The big 3 auto makers are all located in Michigan, USA. If they sold a vehicle direct, the sales tax dollars goes to the State of Michigan. Which means all the other states are missing out on *significant* tax dollars. To force each state to get tax dollars, local dealerships were established. That way tax dollar…

Post by faangiq » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:27 AM UTC

paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

Post by bombcar » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:27 AM UTC

wumpus wrote: post #144

paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

One commonly said counterpoint is that having independent dealers means you get better warranty service. Here's how it works. I had a Subaru, and Subaru had a problem for a decade+ that their head gaskets were tissue paper and frequently failed. So I had one free replacement mid-warranty. I went in just after the warranty expired for a normal service and lo and behold, the head gasket was bad again. The dealer replac…

Post by jethro_tell » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 1:28 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #124

paxys wrote: post #39

A lot has been said about the dealership model in the last few years, and the almost universal consensus is that it is an unnecessary and predatory industry and all auto makers should just sell cars directly like Tesla does. That being said, is there any counterpoint to this view? Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? What would we lose if we got rid of every dealership? If there is t…

I think your mistake here is to look at dealers simply as sales outlets. Dealers would deny that. You sell a car once, but you work on it multiple times throughout its life. IMO the problem with comparing to other retail channels is that most things we buy aren't expensive enough to warrant the same level of upkeep as a $30,000 car. Tesla has made fixed-price online sales work so far, but notice that they're scrambli…