Is the car dealership model comparable to the medieval Catholic church? In both cases, doctrine holds that an individual cannot attain salvation (spiritual or automotive) directly, but requires the mediation of an extremely powerful, legally sanctioned and historically hidebound organization.
In a satirical piece written for CleanTechnica, Michael Barnard has (figuratively) nailed a set of 12 (mercifully, not 95) theses to the door of the auto dealership establishment. He argues that the dealers’ traditional liturgy of high-ball/low-ball haggling, hidden fees, trade-ins and back-office conferences is as dated as the medieval world of relics, Latin masses and indulgences.
In the internal combustion era, he writes, the dealership model made sense, as cars required regular maintenance and service, and buyers depended on dealerships for product information. “The priesthood existed for a reason.”
However, just as the spread of printed Bibles enabled believers to read the word of God for themselves, today’s auto buyers research vehicles online, and often arrive at a dealership knowing more about EVs than the sales staff.
In Barnard’s automotive reformation, Tesla played the part of Martin Luther, Rivian represents “a slightly upscale Protestant sect with good branding and better hiking boots,” and Lucid seems like “a high church reformer.”
Of course, the medieval Church wasn’t all bad—it supported education, the arts and beer-brewing, among other good deeds—and the Reformation did not shut it down.
Auto dealerships do provide valuable services—facilitating trade-ins, financing and warranty work, and providing “a human being in town who can be yelled at when something goes wrong”—and they aren’t going away. Tesla operates dozens of brick-and-mortar stores, and Chinese wrecking ball BYD recently announced plans to open 20 dealerships in Canada.
No, the dealership war is about whether automakers can operate their own dealerships, as opposed to the franchise model required by law in most US states.
Over the years, EV-makers have won the right to sell directly in a majority of states. In many cases, state governments have carved out exceptions to the franchise requirement for EV-only brands. A recently-passed law in Washington state grants the right to sell directly only to automakers that sell exclusively battery-electric vehicles, and that have never had any franchised dealers (to wit, Tesla, Rivian and Lucid).
If the dealers believed that this is as far as reform will go, they wouldn’t be complaining—Crazy Cal and his pals have no interest in selling Teslas or Rivians. No, what they fear is that the Fords and GMs of the world will acquire a taste for running their own dealerships, cutting out (or rather, co-opting) the middleman.
Could this day of reckoning be drawing nigh? A group of dealerships recently sued Volkswagen over plans to sell Scout plug-in vehicles directly to consumers. A year earlier, a Scout exec said that he was “highly confident” that the company would win the right to sell directly. Note that Scout does not sell only battery EVs, and that it is indisputably a part of VW.
The Reformation was followed by a Counter-Reformation, and a century or two of religious wars. The electrification revolution has only begun, and over the coming decades it will remake not only retail auto sales, but every aspect of our transportation and energy systems.
Source: CleanTechnica
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