6 ms·

Tesla’s best innovation: buy direct from manufacturer

no_wizard 3y ago
Every manufacturer would love this. Unfortunately dealerships are enshrined into law and Tesla had to go and get exceptions by law in each state it has dealerships
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  What is stopping the other manufacturers from applying for the same exceptions?
  - JimtheCoder 3y ago
    The pre existing dealers.
    - lotsofpulp 3y ago
      Do you mean existing dealers lobby against the exception? How would that survive a lawsuit? A state government giving one car manufacturer an exception and denying all the other ones?
      - fbdab103 3y ago
        Car dealerships are a huge revenue generating entity for state governments. It is possible doing away with dealerships would net out to similar incomes, but short term would most likely lead to a net negative for the balance sheet.
        ghaff 3y ago
        Dealership owners are probably one of the most successful "small" local business owners in most places. Also, a lot of what people dislike about dealerships is at least somewhat orthogonal to the fact that they're dealerships rather than something owned by the manufacturer. Any dealership can institute "no haggle" sales, you're going to have to take your car to a local authorized place for service/warranty work/etc. in any case, and a lot of people need financing. The last few years of shortages notwithstanding, to the degree you can walk into a dealership, point at a car and say I want that one (or I've come to pickup the car I've ordered), I've got my checkbook--a lot of the hassle disappears. Yes, there will be various annoying upsell attempts but that mostly involves just saying no a bunch of times. (Yes, there are some incentives that dealerships have that a manufacturer-owned entity might not. On the other hand, the inverse is probably true as well.)
      - D-Coder 3y ago
        Apparently it's perfectly legal, if you're not naming specific companies.
      - fieldcny 3y ago
        Car dealers are some of the most powerful local political entities in the country, they donate a lot and they are everywhere
  - paxys 3y ago
    The moment a company sells one car online they lose support from every one of their dealerships nationwide. It's possible for a manufacturer to embrace this model when they are starting from zero, not so when they have millions in existing sales per year to worry about.
  - calgarymicro 3y ago
    As an example[0]: > HB 637, "Motor Vehicle Dealers, Manufacturers, Importers, and Distributors," bans most direct-to-consumer vehicle sales if the automaker has ever sold any model through a franchise in Florida before (i.e. every major automaker). Manufacturers that didn't already have a dealership agreement in the state before the law are exempt, which includes Tesla and presumably other new EV brands such as Lucid, Rivian and Polestar. [0]https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/16/elon-musk-tesla-exempt-florida-ban-on-direct-car-sales-dealerships/70329000007/ https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/16/e...
wredue 3y ago
Tesla isn’t exactly well known for their treatment of customers. Actually, having a sole entity controlling all sales makes getting away with this criminal behaviour easier. There’s less to compare to There’s fewer people that need to be hush hush You have much easier control over who comes in to the circle.
- jliptzin 3y ago
  Can’t possibly be worse than what dealerships are already doing. On the other hand, all it takes is one whistleblower employee at tesla to blow the cover on the entire operation if they’re up to no good.
- kwhitefoot 3y ago
  > Tesla isn’t exactly well known for their treatment of customers. That comes after you have bought the vehicle. At least in my case, in Norway, buying the car was painless and at no point did the sales rep attempt to persuade me to buy anything extra or do anything shady. However, their service organization stinks at some locations in both in Norway and in the UK but oddly for different reasons.
- bandergirl 3y ago
  That makes no sense. Tesla sells at MSRP, what is there to compare? When you walk into a Tesla dealership you know what price to expect, but that does not happen at other dealerships. (I don’t own a Tesla)
  - nikau 3y ago
    If you pay msrrp at a dealer you get the exact same experience.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

Every manufacturer would love this. Unfortunately dealerships are enshrined into law and Tesla had to go and get exceptions by law in each state it has dealerships

lotsofpulp 3y ago
What is stopping the other manufacturers from applying for the same exceptions?
- JimtheCoder 3y ago
  The pre existing dealers.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Do you mean existing dealers lobby against the exception? How would that survive a lawsuit? A state government giving one car manufacturer an exception and denying all the other ones?
    - fbdab103 3y ago
      Car dealerships are a huge revenue generating entity for state governments. It is possible doing away with dealerships would net out to similar incomes, but short term would most likely lead to a net negative for the balance sheet.
      - ghaff 3y ago
        Dealership owners are probably one of the most successful "small" local business owners in most places. Also, a lot of what people dislike about dealerships is at least somewhat orthogonal to the fact that they're dealerships rather than something owned by the manufacturer. Any dealership can institute "no haggle" sales, you're going to have to take your car to a local authorized place for service/warranty work/etc. in any case, and a lot of people need financing. The last few years of shortages notwithstanding, to the degree you can walk into a dealership, point at a car and say I want that one (or I've come to pickup the car I've ordered), I've got my checkbook--a lot of the hassle disappears. Yes, there will be various annoying upsell attempts but that mostly involves just saying no a bunch of times. (Yes, there are some incentives that dealerships have that a manufacturer-owned entity might not. On the other hand, the inverse is probably true as well.)
    - D-Coder 3y ago
      Apparently it's perfectly legal, if you're not naming specific companies.
    - fieldcny 3y ago
      Car dealers are some of the most powerful local political entities in the country, they donate a lot and they are everywhere
- paxys 3y ago
  The moment a company sells one car online they lose support from every one of their dealerships nationwide. It's possible for a manufacturer to embrace this model when they are starting from zero, not so when they have millions in existing sales per year to worry about.
- calgarymicro 3y ago
  As an example[0]: > HB 637, "Motor Vehicle Dealers, Manufacturers, Importers, and Distributors," bans most direct-to-consumer vehicle sales if the automaker has ever sold any model through a franchise in Florida before (i.e. every major automaker). Manufacturers that didn't already have a dealership agreement in the state before the law are exempt, which includes Tesla and presumably other new EV brands such as Lucid, Rivian and Polestar. [0]https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/16/elon-musk-tesla-exempt-florida-ban-on-direct-car-sales-dealerships/70329000007/ https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/16/e...

wredue 3y ago

Tesla isn’t exactly well known for their treatment of customers. Actually, having a sole entity controlling all sales makes getting away with this criminal behaviour easier. There’s less to compare to There’s fewer people that need to be hush hush You have much easier control over who comes in to the circle.

jliptzin 3y ago
Can’t possibly be worse than what dealerships are already doing. On the other hand, all it takes is one whistleblower employee at tesla to blow the cover on the entire operation if they’re up to no good.
kwhitefoot 3y ago
> Tesla isn’t exactly well known for their treatment of customers. That comes after you have bought the vehicle. At least in my case, in Norway, buying the car was painless and at no point did the sales rep attempt to persuade me to buy anything extra or do anything shady. However, their service organization stinks at some locations in both in Norway and in the UK but oddly for different reasons.
bandergirl 3y ago
That makes no sense. Tesla sells at MSRP, what is there to compare? When you walk into a Tesla dealership you know what price to expect, but that does not happen at other dealerships. (I don’t own a Tesla)
- nikau 3y ago
  If you pay msrrp at a dealer you get the exact same experience.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]