TO THE EDITOR:
Ford spokespeople have been flacking about the company's split to market electric vehicles. Then we read about it:
"EV buyers want something different."
"Just look at Tesla and its direct-to-consumer approach."
"Ford's approach is so revolutionary."
Really?
What EV buyers want, according to industry literature: courtesy, a quick and efficient sales process, assistance from trained people, and as much of an online experience as possible. What is so different from what gasoline-powered vehicle buyers want and what franchised dealers are increasingly delivering?
Tesla still feels the need to use dealerships as the cornerstone of its retailing. Much of its lobbying efforts at the state level have been to allow it to open and own them. What Tesla has done is eliminate the independent franchisees who compete with each other over prices and services to their customers. How does that lack of competition help consumers when demand slows and they want lower prices and improved services?
This is not the first time dealers have heard of the benefits of no-inventory, no-price-haggling marketing. Similar thinking has been behind prior OEM pie-in-the-sky plans, including the ill-fated Ford venture of the 1990s to create no-competition marketing zones and the company's plans to cull dealerships in 2006 and 2007. In the current seller's market, this is a great idea. No floorplan costs for dealers. Customers pay what they are asked without negotiations.
But what will happen when demand slows and the factories need to keep running? It will be what has always happened: pressure on dealers to buy and stock the inventory to keep sales going at the OEM level. And then we are back to business as usual.
Please, Ford, talk to your dealers about your EV approach. They understand that keeping sales moving for you is not so revolutionary.
DON HALL, CEO, Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, Richmond, Va.
