The Star-Ledger’s conservative op-ed columnist has weighed in on the Tesla debacle in NJ, and I think that his comments are extremely interesting. As I get older, I find myself agreeing with this columnist more and more, and–most importantly–he always speaks the truth.
Kevin, I’m very much in favor of outlawing lobbies.
Tesla has a lobbyist also and I seem to remember he’s a former staffer for Senator Feinstein.
No conflicts there…
After I started to see Tesla Model S’s around Olympia (we’re 60 miles from the dealer) I asked my friend who promotes EV’s as one of his enterprises and all the Tesla’s that were in the area at that point were owned by either legislators or others in town during the session (possibly lobbyists but he didn’t say so) I’ve seen almost every color offered and some with the base wheels but more with the 20"+. Looks amazing and a more reasonably priced offering would bring in a few people i know.
Tesla has a lobbyist also and I seem to remember he's a former staffer for Senator Feinstein.
The ONLY way to fight lobbyists is with another lobbyist. But the MONEY behind dealer lobbyists is far greater then the money behind the Tesla lobbyist. And it’s the MONEY that usually wins.
Looks amazing and a more reasonably priced offering would bring in a few people i know.
And that’s why Tesla is spending a couple of billion to build a battery plant in the US. First estimate is it could drop the price of the Tesla by 30%.
Not only do the dealers’ organizations have far greater resources, but the manufacturers are a part of the franchise arrangement too, and their resources are even greater. And both are believed by political operatives to control large voting blocks.
Besides. I’d be in favor of banning all lobbyists. and while that would also ban Tesla’s lobbyist, I believe the consuming public in general would benefit greatly.
I should add that the proposed laws that started this thread are state laws. States would also have to ban lobbying. And I believe they should.
Instead of fighting Tesla on that sales model…why don’t we just do the same ?
Here at our mall, you’ll see six Dodges spread out along the main corridor with a sales person at a desk somewhere along the way.
Although linked to the dodge dealer up the street, it still seems like an o.k. idea to me…buy vehicles one place even though servicing will be elsewhere.
Ken, you won’t be buying the Dodge through the mall. You’ll be buying it through the dealer. He’s only displaying his models there. Even if he had a booth there, you’d still be buying it from the dealer.
The concept of buying it at the mall itself seems perfectly acceptable to me. The dealer would make money with the servicing and warranty work anyway. More Dodges would probably sell, and the dealer would probably make more I the end. The concept of buying it at WalMart is perfectly good to me too.
But the franchise agreement that the manufacturer has with the dealer, enabling him to sell Dodge cars, prohibits these types of arrangements. Tesla is trying to use a different sales model, perhaps allowing you to buy there cars at the mall, but the manufacturers and dealers are so afraid that this sales model might take sales from their dealerships that they’re trying to get state laws enacted prohibiting direct sales. And in some states they’ve had enough lobby power, enough campaign money, and enough political pull to get such laws enacted. The entire system is, IMHO, corrupt.
Remember the massive protests when GM tried to eliminate a good share of their dealers to save money? They managed to do it but not as many as they wanted. A lot of these were the small town dealers that sold a limited number of cars but provided years of local service. I never understood their rationale and believe it was more to shift sales to the larger metro dealers.
T.S.M. ;
Yes, I know the Dodges at the mall are being bought from the dealer a mile away…BUT
The idea is a good one.
The all-in-one dealer-service-parts-bodyshop is what is killing too many downtown areas where the cars all used to be sold.
I can walk seven blocks and show you where my dealership started … right in the middle of downtown, First street and Coal. Then it moved a bit out to the edge of downtown at Seventh street and Coal and later expanded to take up all the block , Seventh to Eigth streets with our body shop another two blocks away.
Ten years ago when Ford mandated a redesign for all dealers ( much the same as GMs reboot ) we had a MASSIVE argument about the building design so as NOT to move out of the downtown.
Ford actually expected…demanded us to build this huge towering facade and move to the edge of town to do it ! Leaving a huge gaping hole in the downtown was not an option for this small town !! Four years ago GM had the same argument with Rico Motors at Fifth street and Coal and after much ado about their design and our building codes we both remain right here in the busy downtown without killing it .
So having a stand alone car store, especially somewhere like downtow, is not a new idea at all.
The new idea may be about service contracts with local shops instead of having dealer service shops.
’‘Buy it here then take it to Richard’s Auto for service.’’
has anyone heard about the service and warranty side of Teslas plan ?
Having a dealership in downtown Albuquerque is different than downtown Detroit or Chicago. Ford and GM may have been thinking about dealerships in big cities rather than smaller cities. In any case, the decision should be made for each dealership and not a flat edict. Some downtown dealerships might be convenient and safe.
Tesla’s model may NOT be a good one. We really don’t know yet. It looks better for the consumer because there’s going to be less markup by cutting out the middle man. But as for Service and warranty…not sure yet.
Tesla being all electric should have a lot less mechanical problems. But obviously there are bound to be some. And of course there are going to be accidents. How will these vehicles get fixed? I personally don’t know…but I’m sure Tesla has done some good research into this. Right now it’s not an issue because of the volume of sales. But when the cars become cheap enough for the average consumer…then it might become a problem.
No ICE in a Tesla, but there is still suspension, power electronics, and the more typical electronics to deal with. And don’t forget climate control.
Keiths comments brought back memories. And of course all the GM dealers forced to remodel their store fronts into that hideous Chevrolet design.
In our little town of 20K, the Ford dealer downtown became a furniture store when they moved to the edge of town. Likewise the Chevy/Buick dealer moved and is now a beauty salon and HVAC operation. The Olds dealer is a phone store now. The Plymouth dealer is now the Coop building, and the old Dodge dealer will be torn down for parking for the Sheriff. The Rambler dealer is the State Farm office now. Of course Bobby N’s (J-C its just like brand new) used car lot is now a Goodyear store. I think Bobby is dead. Every car I ever looked at when I mentioned a flaw he would swear and say it was just like brand new. So I nick named him J-C.
Then again the old National T store is now NAPA after Sears, and Piggly Wiggly is a bar now. The Jack Spratt store is a dress shop now and the Hurry Back Bar is something I can’t recall. We used to call them and say “why hurry back, we just got here”. Yeah it was us if there is still a warrant out on us.
Personally, I’m not convinced its worth the effort to save the downtown area. Of course the store owners think differently. The large anchor stores are no longer there as usual and outside of the barber, coffee shop, post office and theater, not much reason to go down there at all, and no place to park cars and run a dealership.
Mike’s right, Tesla’s model might not be a good one.
But it should not be an ILLEGAL one.
Laws protecting the dealers are IMHP wrong on many levels. One is that it deprives the consumer from making an alternative choice. A second is that the function of laws is to protect us from the predators… not to protect the predators from honest competition under a different sales model.
Motor Trend has a Tesla Model S on a long term test, the service department noticed a few things on a recent visit and replaced the drivetrain (electric motor) and a suspension part. From what I can find you do need to have the car inspected either once a year or every 10-12K and the service plan (rather than pay for each service) covers things like brakes and other repairs.
I’ve got a friend who’d love to buy one but can’t quite stretch up to even the base price right now.
Car dealers having satellite locations at malls goes back over thirty years. The mall I grew up near, then the country’s largest, was right next to the local car sealers. The mall had some empty space, approached the dealers, and soon there were two small showrooms in the mall. Complete with finance departments and sales manager types. You could complete the deal there, though I suspect most people were taken for a ride (to the main dealership) to see more choices.
And I absolutely believe Tesla should be able to sell cars any honest way they like. These laws do notthing to protect the buyer. They do nothing to ensure that dealer service will continue to be available nearby. Manufacturers have been terminating smaller franchises at a furious rate for years. Every town of any size had dealerships, now you find them in small cities, and sometimes not events there. Franchise requirements are doing nothing to protect buyers.
Tesla should be ablr to set up service centers or contract with independent garages. Either one can do the job if they have access to the training, parts, and tools. Indeed, I’d prefer dealing with a Tesla-certified garage. Those guys will know Tesla can drop them if they don’t do a good job. Big dealers might get threats, but they know how many cars they sell and how painful it would be to replace them.
I've got a friend who'd love to buy one but can't quite stretch up to even the base price right now.
It’s going to be a while before MOST people can afford one. I’m optimistic though.
@ken green
has anyone heard about the service and warranty side of Teslas plan ?
They have authorized service centers sprinkled around the country. If you don’t live close enough, they’ll come to you, pick up your car, and give you a loaner Tesla until they bring your car back to you.