Regarding lack of EV promotion by dealers, the business model will have
to change. Everyone knows they make most (all ?) their money from
service. Naturally, they are going to promote vehicles that bring them
the highest level of service income, balanced somehow with selling
something that consumers want.
A new business model needs to shift some of the profit to the sales
segment. But that's a non starter if it's going to cause the sales cost
of the car to go up a thousand or two dollars. So, I think, that's going
to push dealerships into finding a way to lower overhead.
The first question is what do consumers want from a dealer when shopping
? Surely, it's mostly the touch & feel plus the test drive. Otherwise,
why have a dealer at all ? So, my guess is that a new model will be more
like Tesla's. That is, a tiny staff and a handful or cars for viewing
and test driving and little or no inventory. Maybe a VR simulator for
checking out options. You decide what you want and order a car.
Just watch what happens over the next few years. New dealerships will
open, and I'll be some will use a model something like this.
Peri
<< Annoyed by leaf blowers ? https://quietcleanseattle.org/ >>
------ Original Message ------
From: "Steves via EV" <[email protected]>
To: "Electric Vehicle Discussion List" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Steves" <[email protected]>
Sent: 08-Feb-21 8:26:53 AM
Subject: Re: [EVDL] EV acceptance training
I think dealers of all makes are bad at this. We had similar experiences with
Ford.
When my daughter was looking for a car I tried to find her a plug in hybrid.
They basically don’t exist in Virginia. She finally found a hybrid RAV4 which
is really nice.
-Steve
On Feb 8, 2021, at 11:13 AM, Peter VanDerWal via EV <[email protected]> wrote:
GM has a fantastic EV engineering department, hampered by probably the WORST
EV sales team. If they want to make a difference they need to train their
DEALERS. It's not the customers that are the problem.
Many of the local GM dealers refuse to carry EVs and actively try to talk you
out of purchasing them. The few dealers that do carry them, only stock a couple
and don't make any effort to promote them. THe last time I was shopping for an
EV the dealer (that had one) diddn't even know where they had hidden it. It
took them 20 minutes to find it and it didn't have the feature I most wanted
(DC fast charging)
February 6, 2021 2:00 PM, "Peri Hartman via EV" <[email protected]> wrote:
Another article today about GM's "commitment" to EVs.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/02/06/auto-industry-peers-into-an-electric-f
ture-sees-bumps-ahead
GM has prepared a superbowl ad that portrays GM as being angry that
Norway sells more EVs than US. I doubt this means GM expects to suddenly
double their EV sales, or something like that. But I see this very
positively, in that if viewers see EVs as being portrayed as mainstream,
resistance will drop.
-----
Conquering Norway’s small car market won’t make or break the fate of GM,
which has been making cars for more than a century. But the good-humored
GM ad — one of two EV ads the company will air — is another sign that
the world’s fourth-largest automobile company might be trying to steer
its way toward a new era of electric vehicles.
...
David R. Keith, a Chevy Bolt owner and assistant professor at the Sloan
School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said
“given that EVs cost more than conventional vehicles and we’re at a
point where consumers are not making lavish discretionary purchases, the
question is not, ‘Can we sell to the wealthy?’ It is, ‘Can we get the
everyday household in mainstream America to buy an EV?’ and we’re still
a long way away from that.”
...
many GM workers in software were disappointed. One current GM employee
said there were “good benefits” and a “good work/life balance,” but “too
much time spent on meetings and political games.” The advice to
management? “It is hopeless. IT management needs to be completely
replaced. IT bureaucracy is an obstacle for innovation.”
--------
The article covers other aspects, too.
Peri
<< Annoyed by leaf blowers ? https://quietcleanseattle.org >>
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