Car dealers, who have long been a roadblock in the rollout of EVs in the US, are continuing with their old tricks and filing lawsuits against new spinoff EV brands, like Sony Honda’s Afeela and VW’s Scout, which had hoped to extricate themselves from the dealership model.
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That high-end luxury vehicles that trade on being new and shiny take massive depreciation hits as soon as they roll off the lot is a lasting truth in the car business. At least one VW buyer is finding that out the hard way, having just watched their 1st Edition 4Motion ID.Buzz sell at auction for more than $11,000 under MSRP with just 398 miles on it.
At least.
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Professional salespeople love to talk about “the steps of the sale,” a tried-and-true process that guides every customer from curiosity to closed. But when it comes to electric cars, that old-school hustle can fall flat, leaving dealers struggling with how to fit them into their familiar playbook. But what if I told you, dear dealer, that there’s a whole category of vehicles on existing dealer lots that need to be approached in exactly the same way as an EV to score a successful sale that you’re already familiar with?
That category: Heavy-duty tow trucks. Here’s how selling one is a lot like selling the other.
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded ENERGY STAR certification to five additional Honda and Acura dealerships, recognizing them as among the most energy-efficient vehicle dealerships in the country and bringing Honda’s total number of 2025 awarded stores to seven – more than any other auto brand.
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VinFast Auto (Nasdaq: VFS) today announced that it’s officially signed agreements with 12 new car dealers in the US.
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A strong majority of car dealers complain the US government’s strategy is bringing them too fast into the electric vehicle future.
It’s awkward to be dragged kicking and screaming into a future that’s already here. Especially because if you don’t do it, you will be irrelevant.
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Nearly half of Buick dealers took buyouts from GM this year instead of committing to selling and servicing EVs.
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One of the US’s largest car dealership groups recently completed the installation of 10,000 solar panels on multiple dealerships.
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Some media say EV demand is slowing, and other media claim there’s record demand. So what’s going on? ZETA’s Albert Gore and I chatted about it.
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Sixty-six percent of US car dealers don’t have any EVs to sell, and 45% said they wouldn’t sell them no matter what, according to a new report from Sierra Club about the EV shopping experience in the US.
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The Mississippi Senate has passed a bill that will stop electric car companies from opening their own dealerships in the state, ensuring that the state famous for being last place in many rankings of all 50 states remains there.
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Tesla vehicle drivers are familiar with completing most of the car-buying or leasing steps online. But according to new research from global business management consultants EY, not everyone is ready to ditch the car dealership experience. It’s a familiar car-buying experience, especially for those who haven’t yet switched to electric cars. But dealerships are going to have to adapt quickly to the changes brought by the arrival of electric cars, or they’ll be left behind.
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In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):
German VW dealers failed to recommend the brand’s flagship electric car, the ID.3, to secret shoppers with a “suitable driving profile,” according to a new study by Greenpeace. Out of 50 dealers visited, only eight of them (16%) recommended the ID.3, and the percentage was even lower (4%) for customers who didn’t specifically mention they were considering the ID.3.
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J.N. Auto, a longtime independent car dealer in rural Quebec, made the transition from selling and servicing used gas vehicles to used electric over five years ago, and even more recently to being one of the largest independent retailers of brand-new Tesla Model 3s anywhere on the planet. Here’s the story of how an independent used car dealer took on new EV sales absent a franchise agreement.
A new bill, SB 167, has been introduced in Colorado which would allow electric vehicle manufacturers to bypass the state’s direct-sales ban.
The ban was first passed in 2010, which means Tesla’s store in the state is “grandfathered in,” though Tesla is not allowed to open other stores. It still has several locations in the state, but these are technically “galleries”
It seems like Tesla’s problems with direct sales laws are endless. After two consecutive small wins in
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