South Carolina Scouts! Your voice is heard: Direct sales bill gets a hearing on Wednesday!
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Why do the Dealers feel so threatened by D2C? Is it because they know they will lose all customers? Why does it have to be one or the other? Why can't both exist with each other?
I believe he did.
They’re Jealous we stole Scott from VW.
Thats why they are coming after Scout. If it was any other EV company they wouldn’t care. And also VW only owns from what i could find is about 30%, thats not “fully owned and operated by VW” And we have been told a few time that Scout is ran completely by it self with little to no contact with VW since they are only the investor.
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AI indicates there are over a dozen VW dealerships in South Carolina. VW corporate needs to pressure the VW dealers into being team players that support consumer choice....
SCADA is organized. Do EV manufacturers have the similar resources to debunct the dealership model myths?
LINKED TO SCADA WEBSITE
MYTHS | Coalition For EV
I have Mad Respect for Gov. McMaster, He wants Scout to sell DTC but he wants to protect the Dealership. Thats True Consumer Freedom.
First off-Kudos getting Tesla there to support the bill. I certainly hope they vote in favor but if not I’m back to saying stand your ground or open a Bugatti/Scout dealership and only offer one in the state. Watch all those A-holes fight over it and make the requirements SO ugly they spend a fortune to get it.
Or better yet. Build a center 1 mile over state line and put an electronic billboard that list the annual taxes and lost revenues due to SC ignorance.
On that note I have to run to my closest vehicle dealer to get some emotional support and donate blood
Or better yet. Build a center 1 mile over state line and put an electronic billboard that list the annual taxes and lost revenues due to SC ignorance.
On that note I have to run to my closest vehicle dealer to get some emotional support and donate blood
Whats funny is if they veto this bill they are going against what their community that voted for them. This bill was written because of the research that was conducted, which they found that SC consumers like FREEDOM on how they purchase their products.
Back in the 1990's Ferrari dealerships across the US were in horrible shape. It was so bad that in 1994 Ferrari launched a factory-owned dealership just north of San Francisco. The main point was to show their North American dealers how to run a business from sales, service, customer relations, finance, even the beautiful Italian looking facility itself. Think of it as a training hospital but for cars. While yes this created some localized competition, the bigger picture was this tool helped completely turn around the quality of the dealer network. With mission accomplished, Ferrari sold it in 2009.
In all the anti-dealership arguments I've read, not once have I heard someone say we should throw out Lexus dealers. Why? Because they're excellent proving it's not buying through a 3rd party dealer that's the problem, it's the quality of the dealers themselves. In the same way Ferrari taught their dealer network how to run a modern dealership, Scout is in the position to teach VWoA and it's dealer network how to run a business in modern times. I hope both parties are savvy enough to take note.
Dealer brochure from back in the day.
albaco.com
In all the anti-dealership arguments I've read, not once have I heard someone say we should throw out Lexus dealers. Why? Because they're excellent proving it's not buying through a 3rd party dealer that's the problem, it's the quality of the dealers themselves. In the same way Ferrari taught their dealer network how to run a modern dealership, Scout is in the position to teach VWoA and it's dealer network how to run a business in modern times. I hope both parties are savvy enough to take note.
Dealer brochure from back in the day.
Ferrari of San Francisco Brochure
Official brochure of the Premier Dealership in San Francisco, California. Highligts some of the jewels on display: Ferrari 250 GTO, Ferrari 333SP, Ferrari F40 and more.PRODUCT DETAILS Albaco SKU#: sx067 Year: Month: Day: Language: English Prod # / ISBN: Author: Brand / Manufacturer: Ferrari of...
albaco.com
For 10 years my wife and I had a great relationship with our Acura dealer. The salesman was just a late 60’s/early 70’s guy who talked to us like family and approached sales the old school way. We bought one more car beyond our needs just because. He once made a $1,000 error on our deal (after offering a hell of a deal) putting the car as a loss. He told us he told manager to take it out of his commission because he didn’t want to screw up our relationship-and to this day I believe he was serious. Shortly after he retired the staffing shifted, finance manager got moved within the family franchise and we lost complete interest in dealing with them. I agree with you @chucchinchilla that it’s training and also understanding it’s a people business-not a car business.
Now we shop like wolves in a field of sheep and we just tear into one after the next-because dealers create the predatory approach which we respond to equally
Now we shop like wolves in a field of sheep and we just tear into one after the next-because dealers create the predatory approach which we respond to equally
Numerous local media outlets are posting some variant of this sort of a statement, following the hearing (source from the local NBC affiliate, WIS-TV):
Hopefully even if their pessimism is warranted, there still might be hope in the Senate (though no legislation has yet been introduced in that body).
One subcommittee member told WIS the bill is “dead,” at least in its current form in the House.Hopefully even if their pessimism is warranted, there still might be hope in the Senate (though no legislation has yet been introduced in that body).
If the motion fails then I see no reason why Scout can't just take a page out of Tesla's book and sell them anyway with some added steps for legal purposes.
1. Showroom with restriction (can't talk price, can't facilitate sale)
2. Online order which is processed out of state (Ex: Scout HQ in VA)
3. Customer files paperwork with local DMV
4. Car is delivered to customer w/temp tags of state where it was processed (VA for example)
5. Customer drives by local dealer association office with middle finger raised.
Same steps could be done for factory delivery center. Did I say delivery center? I mean brand experience center that doesn't facilitate any sales but does have an open parking lot policy for customers who have already purchased their vehicles and selected that parking lot as the delivery point.
1. Showroom with restriction (can't talk price, can't facilitate sale)
2. Online order which is processed out of state (Ex: Scout HQ in VA)
3. Customer files paperwork with local DMV
4. Car is delivered to customer w/temp tags of state where it was processed (VA for example)
5. Customer drives by local dealer association office with middle finger raised.
Same steps could be done for factory delivery center. Did I say delivery center? I mean brand experience center that doesn't facilitate any sales but does have an open parking lot policy for customers who have already purchased their vehicles and selected that parking lot as the delivery point.
I’ll add one more.
Any paid events hosted at SM headquarters (like off-road adventure training) should be reserved through their NC or GA experience center so SC doesn’t get the taxes collected.
(Sorry forum members from SC)
Or have the scouts sales slip/paperwork delivered to NC then “drop transferred” to SM parking lot
I also think everyone from SC should tell everyone they know to buy their cars out of state for the next year to squeeze the dealers and make it hurt.
Perhaps SM as a championing cause of free trade should organize it and agree to use their deliver trailers to pick up competitor orders for a year and deliver to the SM parking lot. Show them what real customer service is!
Perhaps SM as a championing cause of free trade should organize it and agree to use their deliver trailers to pick up competitor orders for a year and deliver to the SM parking lot. Show them what real customer service is!
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