What vehicle do you drive?

ronne

ronne

Nǐ hǎo, yǒu jīn zi ma?
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I know some of you fucks are in CA still

Go buy this thing immediately: Facebook

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Cad

Sheriff Cad

scientia potentia est
<Nazi Janitors>
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Burren said:
I love cars but absolutely hate franchises dealers. Want to pay MSRP? Nope, sorry, we’re adding $100k on top because fuck you.
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Let me just say I have represented Clay Cooley on a couple of matters and I wouldn't let that dude or anybody who works for him come in my house for any reason.
 
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Kirun

Kirun

Buzzfeed Editor
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Haus said:
As soon as a good and viable method for selling a car online happened that was, IMHO, the last nail in the coffin for dealers. Now the only dealer in DFW I can think of that seems to really be holding on well is Sewell maybe, and they're going full tilt on "You pay more but you get the Sewell kit glove pampering experience" bougie angle. But honestly their service isn't that great now and the premium paid for that is kinda ridiculous.
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I think some people here are assuming that because the purchase interface can be digitized, the entire distribution model becomes obsolete. That's not really true. All it means is that the model evolves. In fact, a lot of what we're seeing isn't the disappearance of dealerships, but a transformation of them into delivery/service hubs rather than traditional sales floors.

The whole "it's all just shameless protectionism!!" point isn't totally wrong but it's a bit overstated. Some of it absolutely is protectionism. But some of it is also about controlling how a very regulated, safety-critical product gets sold and supported across thousands of local markets. You can argue those rules are outdated (and many probably are), but lumping it all into corruption ignores that there are still structural challenges unique to the auto industry.
 
Haus

Haus

I am Big Balls!
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Kirun said:
I think some people here are assuming that because the purchase interface can be digitized, the entire distribution model becomes obsolete. That's not really true. All it means is that the model evolves. In fact, a lot of what we're seeing isn't the disappearance of dealerships, but a transformation of them into delivery/service hubs rather than traditional sales floors.

The whole "it's all just shameless protectionism!!" point isn't totally wrong but it's a bit overstated. Some of it absolutely is protectionism. But some of it is also about controlling how a very regulated, safety-critical product gets sold and supported across thousands of local markets. You can argue those rules are outdated (and many probably are), but lumping it all into corruption ignores that there are still structural challenges unique to the auto industry.
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Yes, but if it's just a logistics and delivery (and possibly service, but that's another story) thing I think Tesla has pretty effectively shown you don't need the middle man.

Between online sales of goods, and advances in services I think we're kinda entering the end times for "middle men".
 
Kirun

Kirun

Buzzfeed Editor
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Haus said:
Yes, but if it's just a logistics and delivery (and possibly service, but that's another story) thing I think Tesla has pretty effectively shown you don't need the middle man.

Between online sales of goods, and advances in services I think we're kinda entering the end times for "middle men".
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Tesla didn't eliminate the "middle man" they just had the funds to absorb it. Delivery centers, service infrastructure, mobile techs, inventory hubs… all of that still exists. It's just owned by Tesla instead of independent dealers. The complexity itself didn't go away, it just moved. And honestly, Tesla's model isn't some flawless counterexample either. People have been complaining for years about long service wait times, parts delays, and limited locations. And that's not a dig at them, it just proves the point that the hard parts of selling and supporting cars don't disappear just because you move sales online.

There's also a big factor here that you're glossing over - Tesla is building a fundamentally different type of vehicle. EVs have fewer moving parts, no oil changes, fewer wear components, and generally less routine maintenance compared to ICE cars. That naturally reduces the need for a large, distributed service network. So yeah, of course their model leans lighter, because it can. That doesn't translate 1:1 to every manufacturer that's still selling complex ICE vehicles that require regular maintenance and more hands-on support. Unless you're advocating that we eliminate ICE cars as well while we're at it?
 
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