Numerous online sellers have revolutionized how we buy (and sell) cars and trucks and the legacy automakers want in on it. Nissan developed a program with seven dealers in various areas that is called Nissan@Home. With their new site, prospective buyers can set up test drives, pricing, etc. without ever leaving their homes, which is getting more and more important these days. Buyers can visit the dealership or complete their transaction online and take delivery at home. Sound familiar? Have you seen the commercials online or on TV for other sellers? Nissan expects more and more of its dealers to sign up in future months. Many large dealers already offer this service from various manufacturers.
Okay. When I got this release, I expected Nissan to roll out a sales experience more in line with Tesla's selling model where vehicles are sold directly from the manufacturer. Nissan's new Ariya EV (above) would benefit from that arrangement as dealers are, well dealers and they have a tendency to mark-up prices on popular new models as reportedly some Ford dealers have on the new Mustang Mach-e (even though orders were placed online). Maybe the legacy automakers should offer their EVs through new divisions and adopt Tesla's selling model. For example, Ford could open Mercury (again, you know the God of flight and speed) and have greater control over the sales and service of EVs, which are the future. We shall see how this plays out. Traditional dealers may fade away if they don't adapt. Dealers could still be manufacturer-aligned and certified but would focus on service and sell only used cars (PS: that's where the money is anyway). They could even offer a delivery service if automakers so choose. According to published reports, about 150 of Cadillac's dealers took the company's buyout offer because they didn't want to sell EVs (short sighted especially since Cadillac will be EV only in a little more than a decade). Of course, they could have been in trouble, and GM wanted to decrease the number of Cadillac dealers, so... More to come.
Source: Nissan - Media release, pics, Various reports
