[luckydogg]

As an Illinois resident, I have no doubt our astute politicians will find a way to keep both happy: let the dealer franchises keep their laws, while granting Rivian (and the HUGE economic benefit it brings to the state by manufacturing here) an exception similar to what Tesla gets.

Everyone will be content in the end, and the lawyers will be cashing big enough checks they'll be able to, well, buy direct-from-manufacturer Rivians

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Seems like the easy solution is to make manufacturers choose... If you sell via a dealership model, then you cannot sell direct-to-consumer. If you don’t have dealers then you can sell direct-to-consumer.

 

[Wildabeest]

As an Illinois resident, I have no doubt our astute politicians will find a way to keep both happy: let the dealer franchises keep their laws, while granting Rivian (and the HUGE economic benefit it brings to the state by manufacturing here) an exception similar to what Tesla gets.

Everyone will be content in the end, and the lawyers will be cashing big enough checks they'll be able to, well, buy direct-from-manufacturer Rivians

As a US citizen who’s been involved in state level policy “sausage making” in several states, I think your optimism is a bit naive. It’s high powered and heavily paid lobbyists that are the real winners here, and they earn that money by representing the interests of corporate bigwigs at the expense of the common citizen, Unfortunately, it’s how the game is played, and if the common citizens don’t unite and fight these things - exposing the hypocrisy of it all - then this crap will continue to get rammed down our throats. The corporate interests are far more organized and proactive than most citizen groups, which means we are always playing defense. Not a good win strategy.

 

[drhnbtx]

There is a bill in Texas now that would help mitigate this situation for us Texans and may provide a path for other states to follow. It is HB 4379, text of bill attached. In short, it would allow auto manufacturers that have never used the franchise dealership model to set up their own dealerships. It will protect existing franchises from legacy automakers, and allow the people to have a choice in auto buying decisions.***any Texas forum members please reach out to your state legislators and let them know how you feel about HB 4379!

 

[inkedsphynx]

I'm not sure forcing a company to have dealerships (every bit of cost for that brick and mortar's overhead gets passed on to me as a consumer) is the 'answer' we're all looking for. I see 0 reason for dealerships except as a way to add another middle-man to the process so I can pay more of my hard-earned money to people who have enough money already (I don't know any dealership franchisees who aren't very well off relative to an average American).

What other consumer good are you forced to go through a dealership for, by law? It's the equivalent of saying Amazon isn't allowed to sell groceries because they don't have a brick and mortar location down the road from me. Very backwards thinking rather than forwards thinking.

 

[azbill]

I'm not sure forcing a company to have dealerships (every bit of cost for that brick and mortar's overhead gets passed on to me as a consumer) is the 'answer' we're all looking for. I see 0 reason for dealerships except as a way to add another middle-man to the process so I can pay more of my hard-earned money to people who have enough money already (I don't know any dealership franchisees who aren't very well off relative to an average American).

What other consumer good are you forced to go through a dealership for, by law? It's the equivalent of saying Amazon isn't allowed to sell groceries because they don't have a brick and mortar location down the road from me. Very backwards thinking rather than forwards thinking.

Are you saying that when Tesla or Rivian open a showroom or service center, that is not adding a cost that is passed on to the consumer? Those are also buildings and they will have to have employees.

 

[inkedsphynx]

There's a difference between a single experience center in a state (no back-office sales staff, fewer front-office 'sales' staff, no on-location service staff [could be wrong on this one], no on-site leasing staff, no on-site financing staff, probably no on-site car wash staff.. The biggest might be the sheer cost of space - dealerships have huge parking lots full of cars. Experience centers will have a few Rivian vehicles and the rest of the space is supposedly going to benefit community cultural enhancement) and the multitude of dealerships dotting the land. I know of at least 3 Ford dealers within 10 minutes of me and while I don't live way out in the boonies, I don't live in the city either. Factoring that all in it sure seems like there's a ton of money being lit on fire while providing me basically zero benefit over a more modern e-commerce focused process that sees most of those staff persons centralized in a corporate location.

 

[timesinks]

Are you saying that when Tesla or Rivian open a showroom or service center, that is not adding a cost that is passed on to the consumer? Those are also buildings and they will have to have employees.

Sure, running show rooms is an expense. But a direct sales model doesn't require them to operate as many show rooms, doesn't have them incurring the cost of carrying and storing inventory, and doesn't have an entire layer of middlemen owners who skim their own profit margin off of running that business in the middle. Trim out the redundancies and you have a more efficient (read: cheaper) total cost to the consumer.

And also your comment plays right into the other narrative from the dealership: all those lost jobs. Except manufacturer show rooms and maintenance operations creates new jobs. The only thing that's disappearing is the job of owning that franchise dealer and skimming a few points off the revenues.

 

[eHauler]

There is a bill in Texas now that would help mitigate this situation for us Texans and may provide a path for other states to follow. It is HB 4379, text of bill attached. In short, it would allow auto manufacturers that have never used the franchise dealership model to set up their own dealerships. It will protect existing franchises from legacy automakers, and allow the people to have a choice in auto buying decisions.***any Texas forum members please reach out to your state legislators and let them know how you feel about HB 4379!

If there's any state that could do it, Texas is probably it.

How many folks here are from the lone star state?

 

[Wildabeest]

If there's any state that could do it, Texas is probably it.

How many folks here are from the lone star state?

The good news is that bill was introduced by a Republican, so at least it has a chance. If introduced by a Democrat in TX, it would be DOA.

 

[Heyvernsky]

Same thing as Retail & Malls
They set up "laws" to entrap the public
These laws were established long before the internet
There until recently was a law that only horse drawn carriages could go down Central Avenue in Phoenix
They finally had to abolish it when it was used to fight the light rail
We all know that this is a waste of time and money
But as the saying goes hard to Teach a old dog new tricks
This is why lawyers are the only winners
There is always a loophole
If Tesla can so can Rivian
Not sure why I just wasted my time
Lol