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Why Car Salesmen Don't Want To Sell Electric Cars
HughPickens.com writes: Matt Richtel writes in the NYT that one big reason there are only about 330,000 electric vehicles on the road is that car dealers show little enthusiasm for putting consumers into electric cars. Industry insiders say that electric vehicles do not offer dealers the same profits as gas-powered cars, they take more time to sell because of the explaining required, and electric vehicles may require less maintenance, undermining the biggest source of dealer profits — their service departments. Some electric car buyers have said they felt as if they were the ones doing the selling. Chelsea Dell made an appointment to test-drive a used Volt but when she arrived, she said, a salesman told her that the car hadn't been washed, and that he had instead readied a less expensive, gas-powered car. "I was ready to pull the trigger, and they were trying to muscle me into a Chevy Sonic," says Dell. "The thing I was baffled at was that the Volt was a lot more expensive." Marc Deutsch, Nissan's business development manager for electric vehicles says some salespeople just can't rationalize the time it takes to sell the cars. A salesperson "can sell two gas burners in less than it takes to sell a Leaf," Deutsch says. "It's a lot of work for a little pay."
Jared Allen says that service is crucial to dealer profits and that dealers didn't want to push consumers into electric cars that might make them less inclined to return for service. Maybe that helps explains the experience of Robert Kast, who last year leased a Volkswagen e-Golf from a local dealer. He said the salesman offered him a $15-per-month maintenance package that included service for oil changes, belt repair and water pumps. "I said: 'You know it doesn't have any of those things,'" Mr. Kast recalled. He said the salesman excused himself to go confirm this with his manager. Of the whole experience, Mr. Kast, 61, said: "I knew a whole lot more about the car than anyone in the building." "Until selling a plug-in electric car is as quick and easy as selling any other vehicle that nets the dealer the same profit, many dealers will avoid them, for very logical and understandable reasons," says John Voelker. "That means that the appropriate question should be directed to makers of electric cars: What are you doing to make selling electric cars as profitable and painless for your dealers as selling gasoline or diesel vehicles?"
Jared Allen says that service is crucial to dealer profits and that dealers didn't want to push consumers into electric cars that might make them less inclined to return for service. Maybe that helps explains the experience of Robert Kast, who last year leased a Volkswagen e-Golf from a local dealer. He said the salesman offered him a $15-per-month maintenance package that included service for oil changes, belt repair and water pumps. "I said: 'You know it doesn't have any of those things,'" Mr. Kast recalled. He said the salesman excused himself to go confirm this with his manager. Of the whole experience, Mr. Kast, 61, said: "I knew a whole lot more about the car than anyone in the building." "Until selling a plug-in electric car is as quick and easy as selling any other vehicle that nets the dealer the same profit, many dealers will avoid them, for very logical and understandable reasons," says John Voelker. "That means that the appropriate question should be directed to makers of electric cars: What are you doing to make selling electric cars as profitable and painless for your dealers as selling gasoline or diesel vehicles?"
This +100.
Dealers need to step aside and get out of the fucking way of the sale. It's a stupid business model. There is no value in having a middleman in this process anymore.
Put a firm price tag on the damned vehicle along with a spec sheet - haggling over the price of the of an expensive item like a car like you are in some Algerian bazaar pisses people off. Have an attendant handle the keys and accompany road tests. Done.
I'll never go to a chain dealership to buy a car. I've bought my last several cars off lease from a used car seller who puts a price tag on the car, and simply hands you the keys for a road test and asks that you have the car back by closing time. Their prices are good because they don't have to pay a bunch of salespeople to play fucking mind games with customers all damned day, and they have good sales volume. They have an awesome local reputation.
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
Fossil fuels will increase in price again and eventually run out. This may take a long time but first the vast majority of cars will be electric hybrids and then fully electric. The one thing limiting the transition to plug in electric cars is the infrastructure of charging stations or battery exchange locations allowing long distance travel. Then again, long distance travel may done when most towns are connected by electricity powered trains and cars are only for local transportation.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
why are they anachronistic middle man? the auto OEM wants to be an OEM, not a retail sales company. that's why they choose to contract with the dealers. you think Kia wants to open up their own showrooms at malls across america? I assure you not. The dealer is there not for the benefit of the consumers, but for the benefit of the OEMs.
when was the last time you shopped for a car? I shopped for a car last summer, and it was an eye opening experience. some dealerships were dodgy and I got out of there fast, and other dealerships were really great and spent a lot of time with me.
and dealers aren't useless. they have incredible value... to the OEM. you think a foreign company like Kia wants to put billions into the ground to open up retail stores across America? They would much rather partner with other companies to be the retail agents, aka dealers.
Oh, please. You could be in Kentucky or West Virginia, where the Koch brothers are experimenting with the laws.
Yeah, I would hate to live somewhere where jobs are plentiful, where the government is running a surplus ... wait, what economic problems?
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Wow, that's an interesting reading of this thread. I thought I was responding to the hypothetical idea that nobody would repair cars if we didn't have a state-mandated dealer system. Apparently not.
I think that's somewhat true, but I also think that what the dealers will look like will be somewhat different. They'll end up competing with the few OEMs (like Tesla) that control their buying experience, and frankly, the buying experience through those operations is superior. There's not a human on earth who enjoys dealing with car dealers, so as soon as any cracks in the system show, they'll have to change their ways. They definitely won't go away (for reasons you mentioned), but they'll probably start looking more like retailers and less like the hellscapes they currently are. Toyota will be saying, "We have to compete with Tesla on price and quality, but we also have to deal with the hit that comes from a miserable buying experience." The threat that Toyota will start selling directly will definitely put pressure on Toyota dealers to up their game.
I think this will be the game changer. I bought 2 of my last 3 cars through CarsDirect. Reasonable straightforward price that's easy to check, no negotiation or games. My last car was delivered to me at my office with the paperwork. If I had to guess, I'd say we're going to move more and more toward that model and the only people who haggle at the dealer are going to be the real sharks who aren't profitable to haggle with. Once that starts to happen, the incentive for having a staff of professional hagglers goes away. Eventually, I expect prices will normalize and dealers will have to differentiate on other factors.
An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"