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

Post by erichocean » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 5:58 AM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #138

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…

> Are there any benefits that dealerships offer today over direct sales? Proximity and diversity. How are you going to have direct sales depots in every random town in the world? And which towns get which brands? Makes no sense.

Post by gre » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 6:08 AM UTC

wumpus wrote: post #177

ldoughty wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the OP, and: There's no hatchback, mini, SUV, or truck models available yet... And it feels like Tesla is even further behind in these areas because they are not giving any roadmap details (that I've heard of), while other companies have offerings available now. I hope Tesla can remain a market disruption and continue to push people to electric, but they currently are a one trick pony (which isn't a bad…

Tesla's roadmap is that they're growing > 50%/year as long as their current product line remains hot.

Post by throwaway5752 » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 6:09 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 wumpus » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 6:10 AM UTC

devy wrote: post #369

medler wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m skeptical that this reorg will allow Ford to sell direct to consumers, and I haven’t seen any reporting saying that it will. Notably, Ford has explicitly said they’re not doing that: “We’re not keeping dealers in the mix 'for the moment.' We are betting on dealers for the long term. I want to make that really clear. I’m not mincing words. We will have new standards and a new experience. But we learned a lot by wa…

> Maybe going direct is the secret plan, but I don’t see how they get there. Yeah, the dealership and the state level dealership associations aren't going to go out of business without some good fight. Even though I personally don't like the markup to be paid at the dealerships, but they exist for some good reasons: educate the consumers, financing, DMV paperwork and most importantly service your vehicles. EVs need m…

Post by wumpus » Fri, Jun 03, 2022, 6:17 AM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #371

skolos wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the company optimizes delivery numbers of cars sold by sacrificing quality control How do you know this? Did you see their internal data? There are lots of anecdotes going around about Tesla's quality. However, with all the TeslaQ it is hard to believe that there is real correlation between anecdotes and data. Here are my anecdotes - I owned 6 Teslas over last several years. Not one of them had any QC issues. I had…

Just because you don't notice issues don't mean there aren't issues. Tesla is widely regarded by "car people," both those who own them and those who don't, as having some of the worst fit and finish of any production car in the US. It's been that way since the Roadster. Here's a video review of the most expensive Tesla you can buy, by someone who rates cars professionally and rates it among the best he's ever driven,…