WSH

Cliff notes version...
Porsche had a plan--cant remember the year off hand, 90's or so---to phase out dealers and sell direct. Franchises went crazy, got the local governments involved (local businesses, taxes, jobs, etc.) and Porsche backed down.

Now Tesla is doing it from the start......

NateOZ

This just means it gets allocated based on Corporate relationships rather than dealer relationships. I can't see Ford telling a fund manager that is a major shareholder no or nor a lead bank in a major credit facility. Rather keep the people happy that impact your remuneration happy and tell the public a nice story that's impossible to ever verify.

I see an abnormally high number coming to NY and CT...

Maverick787

Over time dealerships will be a thing of the past, and a dealership is like going into a bank to make a withdrawal. Makes sense to have direct access order the car online, and the dealer ships it to your home. All brick and mortar overhead is removed along with the gamesmanship picking winners and losers on limited car supply.

The service department prints all the cash now, and they should be the only thing that exist with floor models for display so you can see the car live. Time will tell.

Shrevehorn

To a large degree I agree with you. But I thought this 10 years ago.

A couple of points. Personal interaction on a large purchase still matters. Don't discount the entire trade in process and how that contributes to a dealerships bottom line.

Change is slow to come, but agree, time will tell.

dark knight

service depts make cash, but doesn't sales make $ on financing?

fbirch

That exhaust note is pretty disappointing. Let's hope the final product sounds a lot better than that.

ScottKelly911

Whoa, someone finally captured the sound of Chewbaca farting!

I agree, I think Tesla will change (is changing) the car industry.
Yep, completely agree. Brick and mortar overhead is large and expensive and if a company can figure out how to eliminate or drastically decrease those costs, it's certainly something they'll explore. Now, I do know that those costs are paid for by their franchisee's, but by eliminating them, they can sell cars direct for MSRP and not have to worry about selling at a discount to the dealers. This results in higher profit margins. Porsche Centers will still exist, but mostly for repairs/warranty/recall work and to sign your paperwork to receive your cars. No more salesman and sales managers sounds fantastic to me!
The world has changed a lot in 10 years. Tesla has shown that it can be done and quite successfully. Also, personal interaction with dealers in my opinion is one of the areas people would love to eliminate. How many times have you bought a car and even though, you should be happy, you walk out of the dealer feeling like they're trying to take advantage of you, whether it be a special car going over MSRP, or unfavorable financing etc., or settling for a car in stock that isn't quite what you wanted had you been able to order direct. In today's society, we don't need them as long as the configurator is accurate with all options. Today's society is used to buying on Amazon, Ebay and other online retailers. This model will work fantastic for leases since most of the time there is no trade-in equations as well as outright sales. But for sales that do require trade-ins of existing vehicles this is still an area that will need to be figured out.

Yes the process may become a bit more sterile, but in the end, I think the buyers will be happier and you'll never ever pay over MSRP again direct. Yes the second hand market will probably go crazy with over MSRP, but that already happens, so no difference there.
That was a race car, so being turbocharged and open exhaust, it sounds weird. but I'm absolutely sure a street version will have a tuned exhaust to meet the aural pleasure that one demands of a supercar these days. Heck, you wanna hear a weird sounding car, look up on youtube Jeff Zwarts, turbo-charged GT3 Cup car he used for Pikes Peak. That thing sounds like Cup car goodness mixed with the delightful sound of a plunger trying to unclog a toilet. Doesn't that sound exciting? But it was a competition car and nobody cares what it sounds like if it wins. On the streets, it's a different story. I'm sure the road going version will be a lot more refined. Company's are starting to realize that exhaust sound matters. Since most people don't get to drive the cars to the speeds that they're capable of achieving, they need to make the cars visceral and that is done in large part through the sound of the exhaust note.

Para82

I thought it sounded vicious - snorting and all. Entertained me anyway.

Drifting

disappointing indeed. I thought it sounded like a kid making vroom, vroom noises...