auto dealerships Archives - Page 4 of 8

Cars

Do Auto Dealers Have A Future In New, Post-Pandemic World Of Electric Cars?

Pity the poor, unloved auto dealerships. If they disappeared, who would mourn their passing? Car buyers certainly wouldn’t miss the pushy salespeople, byzantine pricing,...

Guest ContributorJanuary 24, 2021

Cars

Tesla Plans A New $2.5 Million Austin Showroom

Tesla has filed with the State of Texas for a $2.5 million project that will transform 500 E. St. Elmo Road into an almost...

Johnna CriderJanuary 19, 2021

Cars

Solar & Wind Producers Back Tesla’s Direct Sales Push In New York

In New York, traditional auto dealers have been fighting against both Tesla and other automakers from allowing their customers to buy directly from them....

Johnna CriderJanuary 13, 2021

Cars

Volkswagen Dealers Making 4.5% Margin Selling ID.4 vs. 14%+ For Fossil Fuel Vehicles — CleanTechnica Exclusive

It is my daily work to analyze the German automotive industry, attempting to understand what is truth and what is a lie. Like in...

Alex VoigtDecember 29, 2020

Cars

Michigan’s Anti-EV Bill Dies

This year has been incredibly challenging for many people. This year also saw the rise of a new anti-EV bill, as many refer to...

Johnna CriderDecember 21, 2020

Cars

“Tesla Is The Worst Of The Bunch,” Australian Dealership Told Potential EV Buyer It Pushed Away

Dealerships in America hate Tesla — that is well known. But I was kind of surprised to see that it's very similar on the...

Johnna CriderAugust 25, 2020

Batteries

How Showrooms Accelerate EV Adoption

In the last few years, three separate nonprofits opened up electric vehicle (EV) showrooms in Toronto, Canada; Portland, Oregon; and Columbus, Ohio to help...

Guest ContributorJune 12, 2020

Cars

Courted By Texas, Colorado, & Florida, Tesla Celebrates Opening Of 1st Service Center In Michigan

Several states would like Tesla to make them their new home. Tesla has a golden opportunity to drive a stake through the heart of...

Steve HanleyMay 14, 2020

Cars

7 Reasons Why Tesla Will Benefit From The Crisis — #3: Supply & Demand

Supply and demand are two sides of the same coin, and although they look different, you cannot separate the two. They are like twins...

Alex VoigtApril 12, 2020

Cars

Louisiana Dealerships Allowed To Stay Open In State-Mandated Shelter In Place Order

In Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards has issued a statewide stay-at-home order to help combat the spread of the coronavirus, but auto dealerships are...

Johnna CriderMarch 25, 2020

Are Car Dealerships Now Actively Advertising Electric Vehicles? A lot has been written about traditional automakers trying very hard to delay the mass adoption of EVs as they still have massive investments made in the ICE ecosystem to recoup. And so, it follows car dealerships then generally promote ICE vehicles over EVs and have a huge ICE vehicle inventory to push. The majority of consumers still don’t have a lot of knowledge on EVs and would depend on their local dealerships to educate them on EV’s. A 2018 paper by Gerardo Zarazua de Rubens et al, published in the Journal Nature Energy (Link), looked into how dismissive and deceptive car dealerships create barriers to electric vehicle adoption. Has anything changed since then? I visited several dealerships in South Africa to have a feel of how some dealerships are handling EVs. A lot of dealerships for BMW and Jaguar in South Africa are actively promoting their EVs. Most of the BMW and Jaguar dealerships I visited were eager to offer test drives of the i3 and the I Pace. Jaguar dealerships really go out of their way to showcase the I Pace. They regularly take the I Pace to exhibitions at malls, upmarket residential and golf estates. In most cases, they make it their star attraction. Prospective customers can also take the I Pace for a test run at the Experience Centre in Lonehill, Johannesburg. I was also pleasantly surprised when we went up north across the border to find a big banner (Image) at a Nissan dealership (Image) in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe advertising the new Nissan Leaf alongside several ICE models as “Coming Soon”. How soon is soon? Who knows? But it was refreshing to see it there. Will keep an eye open for any updates on this. I also experienced a bit of the dismissive approach at one dealership in Johannesburg. With South Africa being one of Africa’s most advanced vehicle financing markets, I had assumed getting an i3 or something on a lease or month on month rental would be a piece of cake. Wrong! The gentleman who served me was friendly and cheerful. I told him I was looking for a lease or a month on month rental on an i3 and he referred me to his manager to see if it was possible. The manager then informed me they did not have such kind of a facility (the kind of short-term/month on month lease I was looking for). They also didn’t have an i3 instore at that time, but they did not seem to go out of their way to check with any of their sister dealerships to see if they could assist even on a more long-term financing arrangement. They were quick to offer to show me the many “marvelous” ICE models in their showroom and were nudging me consider one of those instead for a longer-term lease/financing arrangement. To their credit, they later referred me to several general car leasing companies to see if they could assist but all those car leasing firms said they did not have any electric vehicles in their fleets. There are a thousand odd EVs on South Africa’s roads. Sales have been a bit slow but are promising to pick up as the selection of EV models now available in South Africa has improved. A few more models will be launched during the course of the year like the new Mini E, the Mercedes EQC and hopefully the Audi E-tron. South Africa’s busload of taxes and import duties on electric vehicles aren’t helping improve the situation though. With this tax disadvantage that impacts the sticker price negatively, one hopes car dealerships will bring out their A Game to push the EVs in their stable. It would be good hear them educate consumers on the advantages of driving an EV e.g. the benefit on one’s pocket when it comes to the total cost of ownership. It seems in this part of the World; some dealerships still don’t make the extra effort to promote EVs’, but a lot more are keen to showcase EVs. Links: paper by Gerardo Zarazua de Rubens et al, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-018-0152-x Images: A Nissan Dealership in Downtown Harare, Zimbabwe Advertising the New Nissan Leaf. Picture by Remeredzai Kuhudzai

Cars

Are Car Dealerships Now Actively Advertising Electric Vehicles? — South Africa Example

A lot has been written about traditional automakers trying very hard to delay the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), as they still have...

Remeredzai Joseph KuhudzaiMarch 12, 2020

All posts tagged "auto dealerships"

Cars

Do Auto Dealers Have A Future In New, Post-Pandemic World Of Electric Cars?

Cars

Tesla Plans A New $2.5 Million Austin Showroom

Cars

Solar & Wind Producers Back Tesla’s Direct Sales Push In New York

Cars

Volkswagen Dealers Making 4.5% Margin Selling ID.4 vs. 14%+ For Fossil Fuel Vehicles — CleanTechnica Exclusive

Cars

Michigan’s Anti-EV Bill Dies

Cars

“Tesla Is The Worst Of The Bunch,” Australian Dealership Told Potential EV Buyer It Pushed Away

Batteries

How Showrooms Accelerate EV Adoption

Cars

Courted By Texas, Colorado, & Florida, Tesla Celebrates Opening Of 1st Service Center In Michigan

Cars

7 Reasons Why Tesla Will Benefit From The Crisis — #3: Supply & Demand

Cars

Louisiana Dealerships Allowed To Stay Open In State-Mandated Shelter In Place Order

Cars

Are Car Dealerships Now Actively Advertising Electric Vehicles? — South Africa Example