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Originally Posted by zx10guy
Another thing about all this dealer hate is I highly doubt manufacturers will actually put any significant teeth behind going fully direct. There's just too much infrastructure and processes built around having the dealer as part of the product chain. What people are being myopic about is not seeing the other things a dealer does for a manufacturer.
I highly doubt any long established manufacturer is going to want to take on dealing with carrying inventory of their vehicles. Not only does this have significant ramifications with needing pure warehousing square footage, this also means the manufacturer has to now take on hiring and managing the delivery point where the customer picks up the car and final sales paperwork. All of that is overhead they don't deal with right now. Not to mention the cash flowing situation with holding on to unsold inventory that hasn't been diverted to a dealer as an intermediary.
Service. Another major overhead issue. Now the manufacturer has to hire qualified mechanics, get service bays, and all the other mess that comes with running a service facility. Look at what has happened with Tesla. There have been confirmed reports at the height of this pandemic of people having to wait a month and a half to get their car into service and this was at one of the largest markets being NYC. Do you think things are going to be better in rural areas? I can hear the dealer haters now. Well, I work on my own car and don't need a dealer. Wrong. What are you going to do when there is a recall? The Takata air bag fiasco is an example of this. Do you think any of the manufacturers would be able to handle the huge numbers of cars needing new airbags under the recall?
I understand the need for dealers. It's unfortunate I have to deal with the whole pricing negotiation. I hate negotiating and would rather just have the whole model shift to MRP (manufacturer retail price) instead of MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price). Although I have done decent deals on vehicles I've purchased despite hating the negotiating aspect.
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There’s no need for dealers though. All functions they perform could be handled by corporate shops, even the ones you described. I am sure the automakers could make a bit more money this way. The problem is the lobby and state laws. It can easily be done but when you have to fight, and win, 40+ fights to make it worthwhile to do it at scale, it’s dead before it can start.