That quote set off another response, this one in my inbox.
It came from Stephen Neczypor (Nezza-poor), who wrote, coincidentally, on the same day of Volvo's EV announcement.
Earlier in his career, he was a traveling salesman who logged 35,000 miles a year in his Volvo 740 turbo wagon. His Volvo dealer invited him to sell cars at his dealership, and Neczypor switched jobs.
He made a career out of it. He retired a decade ago, after 17 years in four stores, selling Volvo and other luxury brands.
All of which gave him the street cred to fire off his note.
"I must identify the elephant in the room," he wrote. The Vroom commercial hits a nerve with consumers because they've "experienced similar actions" or know someone who has.
He added: "I fought those stereotypes with every customer every day."
The system is skewed, he explained in a follow-up call. Sales managers and salespersons and F&I managers work at cross purposes, because they are rewarded for different things. Factories see customer-satisfaction scores but not what really goes on in some dealerships. Customers lose trust when they find the same vehicles sold for different prices on different sides of town.
Surely much has changed since Neczypor retired a decade ago. The Internet and smartphones have brought a lot more transparency and accountability to the process.
Yet stair-step incentives have been around for decades, and dealers are still justly railing against the damage they cause.
Which leaves us with the odd mix of tales I've just outlined. Someone who has made a good living off of the traditional retail system awed by his Tesla experience. Volvo reinventing the sales wheel as it goes electric. Online used-car startups skewering dealers' sales practices on a gigantic advertising stage. A veteran, respected dealer saying it ain't so.
And a retired salesman, who is glad dealers such as Benstock are fighting back, saying it too often is so.
"If Darwin is going to take care of this problem, I respectfully submit he works way too slowly," Neczypor said.
If that's the case, we're going to see this drama — who's fittest and who will survive — play out for a long time to come.
You may email Dave Versical at [email protected]