[eHauler]

Its not going well for Rivian in Illinois but things could turn around...

"Amazon-backed Rivian, which plans production at a plant near Normal, Ill., had no immediate comment. The Irvine, Calif.-based company has promised that deliveries of its first pickup will begin in June.

Another defendant is Lucid Motors, a California-based electric-vehicle company.

In Illinois, Tesla was granted a license to sell cars directly “from a small number of locations,” according to the plaintiffs, which agreed to a settlement “only if the Secretary of State vowed to strictly enforce the law going forward.”

Dealers sue Rivian, Illinois over direct sales

A complaint filed yesterday in the county that contains Chicago is another salvo against upstart vehicle makers' direct-to-consumer selling model.

www.autonews.com

 

[SANZCO2]

Its not going well for Rivian in Illinois but things could turn around...

"Amazon-backed Rivian, which plans production at a plant near Normal, Ill., had no immediate comment. The Irvine, Calif.-based company has promised that deliveries of its first pickup will begin in June.

Another defendant is Lucid Motors, a California-based electric-vehicle company.

In Illinois, Tesla was granted a license to sell cars directly “from a small number of locations,” according to the plaintiffs, which agreed to a settlement “only if the Secretary of State vowed to strictly enforce the law going forward.”

Dealers sue Rivian, Illinois over direct sales

A complaint filed yesterday in the county that contains Chicago is another salvo against upstart vehicle makers' direct-to-consumer selling model.

www.autonews.com

Looks like this would kill any factory delivery options....

No way it would be litigated this year (or anytime soon through the courts) and the only out is to agree not to sell directly in Illinois

 

[helloaaron]

Dealer dinosaurs would be better to spend their money on evolving their business model than litigating their right to extinction.

 

[lefkonj]

I can buy everything online but a car.... no way we don't want that.... The old school dealerships are done. Who walks in and does research with a dealer? We all go online, watch videos, read reviews, compares costs etc etc. My last 2 cars I bought via text message with the dealer, and only when I got the best offer did I go into sign paperwork and buy.

Dumb dumb dumb

 

[JEV]

I wonder how that will affect my order ? Might have to take delivery in Indiana. They will probably end up doing what Tesla did and buy dealer licenses for a few select locations. They are setting up a showroom in Chicago anyway.

I won't buy anything from a dealer if I can avoid it. It's always been an unsatisfying experience for me.

 

[eHauler]

I can buy everything online but a car.... no way we don't want that.... The old school dealerships are done. Who walks in and does research with a dealer? We all go online, watch videos, read reviews, compares costs etc etc. My last 2 cars I bought via text message with the dealer, and only when I got the best offer did I go into sign paperwork and buy.

Dumb dumb dumb

Exactly.
ALL we need them for is the paperwork which doesn't take much effort at all in the first place. Someone flipping burgers at McD's provides more value come to think about it.

Wasn't there a petition going around to push a direct sales bill for some state?

 

[lefkonj]

Exactly.
ALL we need them for is the paperwork which doesn't take much effort at all in the first place. Someone flipping burgers at McD's provides more value come to think about it.

Wasn't there a petition going around to push a direct sales bill for some state?

Also my last car purchase all paperwork was digital, even signed it digitally. not sure why I need a dealer

 

[Wildabeest]

Corporate welfare makes me 🤮. Such BS.

 

[Rob f]

Let’s see if Ford is really going to be a good partner. If so, they should help lobby to overturn the arcane dealer laws. Not holding my breath.

 

[AleCS]

Exactly.
ALL we need them for is the paperwork which doesn't take much effort at all in the first place. Someone flipping burgers at McD's provides more value come to think about it.

Wasn't there a petition going around to push a direct sales bill for some state?

Yeah... WA State. Bill died.

 

[Chris S]

Let’s see if Ford is really going to be a good partner. If so, they should help lobby to overturn the arcane dealer laws. Not holding my breath.

Ford also has an interest in maintaining strong relationships w/ it's thousands of dealers. Do you really think them fighting dealer laws would help that? I think Ford's best interest is to stay neutral on the matter, even if they secretly desire such laws to be abolished.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Let’s see if Ford is really going to be a good partner. If so, they should help lobby to overturn the arcane dealer laws. Not holding my breath.

Ford also has an interest in maintaining strong relationships w/ it's thousands of dealers. Do you really think them fighting dealer laws would help that? I think Ford's best interest is to stay neutral on the matter, even if they secretly desire such laws to be abolished.

Agreed. Ford probably can't support Rivian in this matter, because it would be viewed as treasonous within its own brand.

 

[Rivian-WI]

Keep in mind that those dealerships are also a service center. Yes, there are a lot of separate service centers out there, but if the manufacturers are smart they require their branded service centers to have training. It is that training that I am going to the dealer's service center for. How many separate service centers are going to know they need to do steps x, y, z before they touch part A. Otherwise they blow out part c. With a vehicle with a lot of electricity moving around and electronic parts, I want ti to be serviced by someone who knows what they are doing and has had the training.

I am not pro-dealership. Just throwing this out there.

 

[Rivian-WI]

This lawsuit makes no sense. The Dealerships are 'branded', so they have a pre-existing partnership with specific manufacturer(s). Why should they care if a manufacturer they are NOT partnered with is selling direct. If I was them, I would be pissed it the manufacturer I was already partnered with decided to start selling direct.

The larger dealerships with multiple locations across multiple cities should be going to Rivian to see if they can do some sort of partnership for service and not sales. And that partnership is heavily controlled by Rivian and not the dealerships.

 

[Rob f]

Agreed. Ford probably can't support Rivian in this matter, because it would be viewed as treasonous within its own brand.

Agreed.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Keep in mind that those dealerships are also a service center. Yes, there are a lot of separate service centers out there, but if the manufacturers are smart they require their branded service centers to have training. It is that training that I am going to the dealer's service center for. How many separate service centers are going to know they need to do steps x, y, z before they touch part A. Otherwise they blow out part c. With a vehicle with a lot of electricity moving around and electronic parts, I want ti to be serviced by someone who knows what they are doing and has had the training.

I am not pro-dealership. Just throwing this out there

I am strongly in favor of “right to repair” so I believe manufacturers should be legally obligated to make their service data available in a reasonably accessible and affordable way (if not simply free)

there should be no barrier to prevent a vehicle owner or independent shop from being able to know the proper service procedures.

 

[Rivian-WI]

I am strongly in favor of “right to repair” so I believe manufacturers should be legally obligated to make their service data available in a reasonably accessible and affordable way (if not simply free)
there should be no barrier to prevent a vehicle owner or independent shop from being able to know the proper service procedures.

Agree, but some of those local service shops are no better than the dealerships with their pricing and oversells.
I guess my main point is the training. I am hoping that 'branded' service centers are being 'watched' by the manufacturers to make sure proper training is happening. At local shops this may not happen. I have knowledge of a luxury appliance brand and the manufacturer keeps a very keen eye on the Distributors and Service Companies to make sure their brand is properly handled/represented.

And I applaud you for wanting to 'crawl' under he hood of a modern car. Way too many gizmos for me now a days. And with the BEVs, no way do I want to touch the wrong thing and have my hair standing on end all of the sudden.

 

[Angus]

Oh, the crappy dealership stories.

Like when I was 21, had my first real job, and went to buy a WS6 Trans Am and the sales person told me to come back with my parents.

When I was 24, got a promotion and wanted to trade in a six month old Mustang and the dealership offered me a 10k trade in, even though they were selling a used one on the lot with more miles and less options for almost 30k.

Or when I went to buy a Sierra Denali and either knew nothing about cars or assumed I believed him.

Oh, how I will miss these memorable experiences.

 

[JimmyEV]

Its not going well for Rivian in Illinois but things could turn around...

"Amazon-backed Rivian, which plans production at a plant near Normal, Ill., had no immediate comment. The Irvine, Calif.-based company has promised that deliveries of its first pickup will begin in June.

Another defendant is Lucid Motors, a California-based electric-vehicle company.

In Illinois, Tesla was granted a license to sell cars directly “from a small number of locations,” according to the plaintiffs, which agreed to a settlement “only if the Secretary of State vowed to strictly enforce the law going forward.”

Dealers sue Rivian, Illinois over direct sales

A complaint filed yesterday in the county that contains Chicago is another salvo against upstart vehicle makers' direct-to-consumer selling model.

www.autonews.com

That settlement for Tesla is ridiculous. they can't be the only ones allowed to do direct sales. If they're that worried about the competition they need to take a hard look at themselves rather than blame Rivian and others. But of course the blame game is the easier option for them.

 

[eHauler]

That settlement for Tesla is ridiculous. they can't be the only ones allowed to do direct sales. If they're that worried about the competition they need to take a hard look at themselves rather than blame Rivian and others. But of course the blame game is the easier option for them.

Rivian has some good backers and might have the ability to influence things turning around, so who knows where it'll go.