3 ms·

>Tesla is the ONLY player with a direct to consumer model You are saying it like it's necessarily a good thing.

iso1337 8y ago
Not sure why the gp is being downvoted so much specifically in regards to the DTC comment. There was just a decently-sized HN thread about how the current non-direct to customer model is not the best for either the car buyer or the manufacturer. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18790480 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18790480
- adamqureshi 8y ago
  Yeah. What gives.
adamqureshi 8y ago
A fundamental principle of competition is that consumers – not regulation – should determine what they buy and how they buy it. Consumers may benefit from the ability to buy cars directly from manufacturers – whether they are shopping for luxury cars or economy vehicles. The same competition principles should apply in either case. States should allow consumers to choose not only the cars they buy, but also how they buy them.
- anthonybsd 8y ago
  First watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ro6kpKlw0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ro6kpKlw0 Choice quote from the discussion on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/abkk12/what_did_you_do_with_my_tesla_elon/ed11wgz/ https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/abkk12/what_did_... "The takeaway from this video, if no one has gotten the message by now, is that Tesla only cares about the sale of new Teslas, which it doesn't do very well. It does not care about selling used Tesla, servicing existing customers, or supplying parts to customers. Tesla made a shittier dealership and calls it innovation. It's hilarious that it is simultaneously waging war on the dealership laws while doing the dealership thing so poorly that it's like exhibit A in why dealership laws maybe aren't that bad. If Tesla were this bad at being a car company pre-dealership laws it would have been the reason they came into being in the first place."
  - matchbok 8y ago
    Eh. I struggle to see what dealerships actually do at all. They don't make the car...why are they the only ones allowed to sell it? Also, that quote is just wrong. They didn't make a "shittier dealership". They don't have dealerships at all.
    - anthonybsd 8y ago
      >Also, that quote is just wrong. They didn't make a "shittier dealership". They don't have dealerships at all. Where do you go when your Tesla breaks down? Yearly check-ups? Used Tesla sales? The fact that they are a direct representative of Tesla themselves changes very little for you as the consumer.
erikpukinskis 8y ago
It’s an open question whether dealers will help sell EVs in volume. The trouble is they won’t make much off them in service contracts. We’ll see when a major automaker tries to sell a million EVs in a year. Volkswagen says they’re going to try so they might be first to do the experiment. We don’t have anything but promises yet.
- ams6110 8y ago
  They'll sell the service contracts anyway. There's no justification for buying one for any current new car, but people still do.

Not sure why the gp is being downvoted so much specifically in regards to the DTC comment. There was just a decently-sized HN thread about how the current non-direct to customer model is not the best for either the car buyer or the manufacturer. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18790480 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18790480

adamqureshi 8y ago
Yeah. What gives.

adamqureshi 8y ago

A fundamental principle of competition is that consumers – not regulation – should determine what they buy and how they buy it. Consumers may benefit from the ability to buy cars directly from manufacturers – whether they are shopping for luxury cars or economy vehicles. The same competition principles should apply in either case. States should allow consumers to choose not only the cars they buy, but also how they buy them.

anthonybsd 8y ago
First watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ro6kpKlw0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ro6kpKlw0 Choice quote from the discussion on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/abkk12/what_did_you_do_with_my_tesla_elon/ed11wgz/ https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/abkk12/what_did_... "The takeaway from this video, if no one has gotten the message by now, is that Tesla only cares about the sale of new Teslas, which it doesn't do very well. It does not care about selling used Tesla, servicing existing customers, or supplying parts to customers. Tesla made a shittier dealership and calls it innovation. It's hilarious that it is simultaneously waging war on the dealership laws while doing the dealership thing so poorly that it's like exhibit A in why dealership laws maybe aren't that bad. If Tesla were this bad at being a car company pre-dealership laws it would have been the reason they came into being in the first place."
- matchbok 8y ago
  Eh. I struggle to see what dealerships actually do at all. They don't make the car...why are they the only ones allowed to sell it? Also, that quote is just wrong. They didn't make a "shittier dealership". They don't have dealerships at all.
  - anthonybsd 8y ago
    >Also, that quote is just wrong. They didn't make a "shittier dealership". They don't have dealerships at all. Where do you go when your Tesla breaks down? Yearly check-ups? Used Tesla sales? The fact that they are a direct representative of Tesla themselves changes very little for you as the consumer.

erikpukinskis 8y ago

It’s an open question whether dealers will help sell EVs in volume. The trouble is they won’t make much off them in service contracts. We’ll see when a major automaker tries to sell a million EVs in a year. Volkswagen says they’re going to try so they might be first to do the experiment. We don’t have anything but promises yet.

ams6110 8y ago
They'll sell the service contracts anyway. There's no justification for buying one for any current new car, but people still do.