Stellantis dealers warn of brand degradation; company scolds them to keep dispute in house -Detroit Free Press

Cheetah-kins said:
If manufacturers did move to direct-to-consumer sales how would buyers have the vehicles they bought worked on and maintained? I thought a large part of dealer showrooms was the repair facilities.. Or would there be manufacturer garages built that did nothing but work on cars, with no salespeople?
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As others have posted, the dealership service department and sales department are separate entities.
As @The Critic pointed out, Tesla has a network of service centers. The vehicles can be test driven and you can get information at Tesla stores; those "stores" carry no inventory. There is no difference between ordering from Tesla.com or at a store. Tesla also offers test drives at locations where there are no people. You are all on your own.

The other nice thing about Tesla is they will often send out a service tech to your home. A tech came to my home when the 12v battery (controlled door locks and more) in our '18 M3 Mid Range started to kick the bucket. A message came up on the tablet screen and I scheduled an appointment for the next day right there. The tech replaced the battery and inspected the car. No service charge, it was like $120 all in for the battery.
 
  1. Tesla operates at a much smaller scale than any legacy automaker. The number of Tesla's in customers hands that will eventually require service is miniscule to the number of Toyotas, Volkswagens, or Fords. There is a chasm in the level of service a manufacturer is able to offer for the 2 million or so Teslas on the road versus the 30 million Toyotas. Tesla's service paradigm simply doesn't scale to the level of Toyota, GM, or Ford. It's something they're going to have to reckon with very soon and it's not going to be a pretty for owners. When the Supercharger network finally got too large to scale anymore, Tesla monetized it, sold access to other automakers, and gutted the internal team, all at the cost of their owners. Service will be the same.
  2. In many small towns that have a car dealership, the 15 or so people employed there make it the largest employer in town. Overall, small businesses employ 50% of all people in the country and employees of new car dealerships represent a not-insignificant total of those people. You really think the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying group in the country and the group that represents those small business, is just going to roll over and let these business be shuttered? No way. You will see federal legislation protecting these businesses before that happens. That's actually how "capitalism" works in America.
 
MrHorspwer said:
  1. Tesla operates at a much smaller scale than any legacy automaker. The number of Tesla's in customers hands that will eventually require service is miniscule to the number of Toyotas, Volkswagens, or Fords. There is a chasm in the level of service a manufacturer is able to offer for the 2 million or so Teslas on the road versus the 30 million Toyotas. Tesla's service paradigm simply doesn't scale to the level of Toyota, GM, or Ford. It's something they're going to have to reckon with very soon and it's not going to be a pretty for owners. When the Supercharger network finally got too large to scale anymore, Tesla monetized it, sold access to other automakers, and gutted the internal team, all at the cost of their owners. Service will be the same.
  2. In many small towns that have a car dealership, the 15 or so people employed there make it the largest employer in town. Overall, small businesses employ 50% of all people in the country and employees of new car dealerships represent a not-insignificant total of those people. You really think the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying group in the country and the group that represents those small business, is just going to roll over and let these business be shuttered? No way. You will see federal legislation protecting these businesses before that happens. That's actually how "capitalism" works in America.
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Sure, Tesla has far fewer cars than the legacy car companies. The "tech comes to you" service is partly due to the few number of cars and cannot go on forever. But comparing Toyota service requirements to a Tesla is apples to oranges. There is almost nothing to service on a Tesla; so your "minuscule" point is well taken. That's one of their big benefits over an ICE vehicle. Plus, if the cars continue to gain market share, there will be mechanics starting their own businesses just like we have seen with the legacy car companies. And while the drive train is different, much of a Tesla is similar to ICE vehicles (brakes, tires, etc).

In your car dealership scenario, the work force in a direct sales scenario will not 100% go away; it will change. There are still test drives and service. The savings is in inventory carrying costs and dealer markup.
 
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Chris142 said:
Hire me! I will fix the problems by taking them back to a poly 318,slap a throttle body on it with a throttlle cable, no lane departure or anti lock brakes! lol
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Naa, the 225 slant 6 upgraded to DI to pass emissions. No radio, no phone charger, no PS, no power brakes, no AC, no power windows, rear end with no clutches, priced at less than $14,000.00 new. In K car and Volare / Aspen styles 2dr, and 4dr and wagon. They would not be able to keep up with demand.

And an upgraded version of each with AC for an additional $2,000.00

A true econo-box get you to where you have to go reliably no frills vehicle, made for businesses to buy for employee use, or to give to a kid going off to college, or just for frugile people.
 
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andrew_j said:
The balance of Chrysler/Dodge is the interesting part here. Will it survive , maybe a Chinese automaker can grab it as inroads to US market.
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Fiat already tried that. That didn't go well.
Fiat is now in a consortium of a number of brands (I counted 9 off the top of my head) that could cobble together through modification some urgently needed product to both Chrysler and Dodge in an attempt to make them viable. That hasn't happened.
Opel anyone?
 
Manufacturers = Non-car people who answer only to a stock ticker and appear to be fabulously well insulated.
Dealerships = No real value added to the product. hustling needless services
Protective legislation = Maybe making some who chant "the free market", reconsider how little they know.
The products = frequently overpriced garbage
The customers = frequently stupid....effectively powerless...totally disorganized + without a voice.

It leaves little room for practical feedback.
One irony is that here and there, the industry has delivered good, practical, economical products.
Then, the bozo mindset of "personalizing" your ride, mimicking performance cars or impressing your neighbors is catered to.

I love that VW, a world leader in petrol and diesel vehicles, just had to keep upping the "zoom" of diesel cars.
VW lied, broke laws and got caught.
Nowhere have I seen a "realignment" between facts (diesels are slower, more torquey engines) and the dream world of marketing.

So, the structure is faulty, and the people involved live in a protected fantasy world.
The customer is there to sop up the puke.

In the food world, there's plenty of garbage for sale but YOU CAN source quality nutrition with a bit of effort -a dirty word to many.
It's too bad such a stratum doesn't exist in the car world.

BINGO: That's it, Kira's Whole Cars....or Trader Kira's....or Kira's Organic Cars...
I'll show you a kindly old lady stitching my upholstery...and you'll fall for it.
 
edyvw said:
No it won't. The US took a much slower and different step toward this than the EU did.
You will still keep ICE. Now, a different thing is that some manufacturers just cannot/don't know how to deliver engines that are competitive.
We had this discussion with catalytic converters when GM said that it is communism, that it will kill car industry etc. and everyone else just kept going developing new engines.
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They probably know, but the cost of vehicle and bar of DIY maintenance become higher and higher
 
TumblrDucks said:
They probably know, but the cost of vehicle and bar of DIY maintenance become higher and higher
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That is not just related to emissions. People also want more fuel efficient cars. Competition also dictates that. Second, safety standards make cars complicated, heavier etc. Third: people want all the goodies in vehicles. That contributes to complexity.
 
JimPghPA said:
Naa, the 225 slant 6 upgraded to DI to pass emissions. No radio, no phone charger, no PS, no power brakes, no AC, no power windows, rear end with no clutches, priced at less than $14,000.00 new. In K car and Volare / Aspen styles 2dr, and 4dr and wagon. They would not be able to keep up with demand.

And an upgraded version of each with AC for an additional $2,000.00

A true econo-box get you to where you have to go reliably no frills vehicle, made for businesses to buy for employee use, or to give to a kid going off to college, or just for frugile people.
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You described my grandma's dream car, circa 1970. But she's dead now; few people if any besides you would buy a car like that.
 
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