Why Car Salesmen Don't Want To Sell Electric Cars 482
HughPickens.com writes: Matt Richtel writes in the NYT that one big reason there are only about 330,000 electric vehicles on the road is that car dealers show little enthusiasm for putting consumers into electric cars. Industry insiders say that electric vehicles do not offer dealers the same profits as gas-powered cars, they take more time to sell because of the explaining required, and electric vehicles may require less maintenance, undermining the biggest source of dealer profits — their service departments. Some electric car buyers have said they felt as if they were the ones doing the selling. Chelsea Dell made an appointment to test-drive a used Volt but when she arrived, she said, a salesman told her that the car hadn't been washed, and that he had instead readied a less expensive, gas-powered car. "I was ready to pull the trigger, and they were trying to muscle me into a Chevy Sonic," says Dell. "The thing I was baffled at was that the Volt was a lot more expensive." Marc Deutsch, Nissan's business development manager for electric vehicles says some salespeople just can't rationalize the time it takes to sell the cars. A salesperson "can sell two gas burners in less than it takes to sell a Leaf," Deutsch says. "It's a lot of work for a little pay."
Jared Allen says that service is crucial to dealer profits and that dealers didn't want to push consumers into electric cars that might make them less inclined to return for service. Maybe that helps explains the experience of Robert Kast, who last year leased a Volkswagen e-Golf from a local dealer. He said the salesman offered him a $15-per-month maintenance package that included service for oil changes, belt repair and water pumps. "I said: 'You know it doesn't have any of those things,'" Mr. Kast recalled. He said the salesman excused himself to go confirm this with his manager. Of the whole experience, Mr. Kast, 61, said: "I knew a whole lot more about the car than anyone in the building." "Until selling a plug-in electric car is as quick and easy as selling any other vehicle that nets the dealer the same profit, many dealers will avoid them, for very logical and understandable reasons," says John Voelker. "That means that the appropriate question should be directed to makers of electric cars: What are you doing to make selling electric cars as profitable and painless for your dealers as selling gasoline or diesel vehicles?"
Jared Allen says that service is crucial to dealer profits and that dealers didn't want to push consumers into electric cars that might make them less inclined to return for service. Maybe that helps explains the experience of Robert Kast, who last year leased a Volkswagen e-Golf from a local dealer. He said the salesman offered him a $15-per-month maintenance package that included service for oil changes, belt repair and water pumps. "I said: 'You know it doesn't have any of those things,'" Mr. Kast recalled. He said the salesman excused himself to go confirm this with his manager. Of the whole experience, Mr. Kast, 61, said: "I knew a whole lot more about the car than anyone in the building." "Until selling a plug-in electric car is as quick and easy as selling any other vehicle that nets the dealer the same profit, many dealers will avoid them, for very logical and understandable reasons," says John Voelker. "That means that the appropriate question should be directed to makers of electric cars: What are you doing to make selling electric cars as profitable and painless for your dealers as selling gasoline or diesel vehicles?"
Easy solution (Score:5, Insightful)
If dealers don't want to sell them, let manufacturers sell direct to the customers.
Re:Easy solution - COSTCO does it better (Score:4, Insightful)
Tell em what you want, they tell you how much it costs and when and where you can pick it up.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Costco has a terrible car sales model.
They "shop around" to local dealerships by getting them to give a quote for the requested model. Then they sell it to you at the lowest first-quote price of any local dealership, plus a little markup for Costco, of course. Lowest first-quote price. That's pants-on-head retarded. You at least should get a second round of quotes.
Oh, and the best part is that they won't even bother to get a price for you unless you first commit to completing the sale with them! So you can'
Re: (Score:3)
AC is incorrect. Costco lists the price so that you can shop around. No haggling.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't know if Costco has changed the way they do it recently, but when I tried to use Costco's car service 5 years ago it certainly wasn't that simple. I went to Costco to check the price, and they told me I'd have to contact the Toyota dealer to get the price (and there was only 1 participating Toyota dealer in the area). I called the dealer up, and they absolutely refused to provide any pricing info over the phone. They wanted me to drive there...20 miles away. Let's just say I was less than impressed b
Re: (Score:3)
That is a dealership to avoid and never go to...
It has been a long time, many years, since I purchased a car in person, the last few were via e-mail...
The most recent one was at my dining room table...
They want to sell a car, they'll make it easy for me, not the other way around...
Re: (Score:3)
The best technique is to buy a car out-of-state though. Sales tax is paid to your state, not to the selling dealer's state, and there is no county or city sales tax in the equation. On top of that, if your state requires that the sales tax be based on the MSRP rather than on the negotiated price, this te
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Funny)
..except that the dealers have made that illegal, for the most part. For our protection, of course.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Sweet. I'll tell my boss that I'm quitting to move to another state, because some retard online said it's not retarded.
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Informative)
Which state would that be, as the ACs mention?
From wiki:
In the United States, direct manufacturer auto sales are prohibited in almost every state by franchise laws requiring that new cars be sold only by dealers.
Customer Experience
According to one survey, more than half of dealership customers would prefer to buy directly from the manufacturer, without any monetary incentives to do so. An analyst report of a direct sales model is estimated to cut the cost of a vehicle by 8.6%.[11] This implies an even greater demand currently exists for a direct manufacturer sales model. However, state laws in the United States prohibit manufacturers from selling directly, and customers must buy through a dealer.
Re: (Score:2)
California. As well as not banning direct sales by auto manufacturers, it provides more protections for employees (banning non-compete contract terms), limits on how short yellow lights can be at signals, and the state government is running a surplus.
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Insightful)
That's what good, conservative governance will do for you.
Oh wait.
California's schizophrenic for a reason (Score:3)
It's worth noting that when they had a Republican Governor (The Governator) they ran deficits and had a softer economy in general.
Re:Easy solution (Score:4, Informative)
Which state might that be?
California. I live in San Jose, and my wife bought her Tesla direct from the factory in Fremont. We didn't pay a dime to any dealer.
Re: (Score:2)
You, sir or madam coward, are a fool and an ass. Usually California is way ahead of the country.
Re: (Score:3)
I've lived in California... I hate to tell you, but you've been lied too... That state is so messed up in so many ways, I NEVER want to go back...
Re:often ahead in the wrong direction, certainly d (Score:4, Interesting)
Oh, please. You could be in Kentucky or West Virginia, where the Koch brothers are experimenting with the laws.
Yeah, I would hate to live somewhere where jobs are plentiful, where the government is running a surplus ... wait, what economic problems?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Australia isn't very welcoming to immigrants right now.
Re: Easy solution (Score:5, Insightful)
Like the Australian state that just criminalized possession of CAD files?
Or the one that criminalizes video games?
Or the one that criminalizes porn actresses with A cups?
Australia is not the first country that comes to mind when "sane lawmaking" is the topic of discussion.
Re: (Score:3)
Like the Australian state that just criminalized possession of CAD files?
Or the one that criminalizes video games?
Or the one that criminalizes porn actresses with A cups?
Australia is not the first country that comes to mind when "sane lawmaking" is the topic of discussion.
Just for info, the A cup thing is debunked here: http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/... [crikey.com.au]
Re: (Score:3)
Don't forget that everything that moves and half the stuff that doesn't is deadly.
Re: (Score:2)
Death adders. That is all.
Re:Easy solution (Score:5, Interesting)
This +100.
Dealers need to step aside and get out of the fucking way of the sale. It's a stupid business model. There is no value in having a middleman in this process anymore.
Put a firm price tag on the damned vehicle along with a spec sheet - haggling over the price of the of an expensive item like a car like you are in some Algerian bazaar pisses people off. Have an attendant handle the keys and accompany road tests. Done.
I'll never go to a chain dealership to buy a car. I've bought my last several cars off lease from a used car seller who puts a price tag on the car, and simply hands you the keys for a road test and asks that you have the car back by closing time. Their prices are good because they don't have to pay a bunch of salespeople to play fucking mind games with customers all damned day, and they have good sales volume. They have an awesome local reputation.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Its not a stupid business model by any means
You forgot that the US didn't invented the car, they invented the business model, in plain English it means the land of the opportunity where any old world delinquent could get rich milking the unaware
basically the manufacturer makes the car and makes deals with the dealer that will make money of parts and maintenance for a mint on the condition that the dealer push the brand by any trick available and in return the manufacturers make sure the customers are milked
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
i had a great experience at a mazda dealership. I think they take a different approach to pricing models and sales goals. its also true that in shopping for a car i went to a number of other dealerships that were shady as fuck. generally, you can tell in 15 mins if you feel comfortable there or not. if not, just walk away (literally, in midsentance, just be like "i'm really happy for you and imma let you finish, but first i need to get something from my car")
Re: (Score:3)
> i had a great experience at a mazda dealership.
Saturn used to be like this. I had very positive experiences with them, for new car sales and used car sales, and for vehicle service. They did try to upsell, but gracefully, and took "no, thank you" for an answer. I found it sad that GM elected to sell off this division, rather than their other divisions, and the division closed when the sale fell through.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: Easy solution (Score:5, Informative)
Um, no. Electric cars use permanently lubricated bearings. There's no mechanism by which the dealer can add oil to anything. Eventually, those bearings fail, and you have to replace the motor, but not for a very long time.
Electric cars do need tire rotation, brake pad replacement, and replacement of brake lights and other exterior lights (if they aren't LEDs). Beyond that, they should be largely maintenance-free.
Re: Easy solution (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
I didn't have to put new pads on my half-ton pickup until 105,000 miles either. A lot of it comes down to how you drive, but the regenerative braking on EVs definitely helps.
Re: (Score:2)
That means that the appropriate question should be directed to makers of electric cars: What are you doing to make selling electric cars as profitable and painless for your dealers as selling gasoline or diesel vehicles?"
Is the bit of stupid I noticed because that's not how the world works.
Re: (Score:2)
that's all cool and stuff, but almost all car manufacturers work through the dealership model, and even if the law changed they would still go through the dealerships. so how would this help?
Re: (Score:2)
one stone 2 birds.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You can still buy the "less expensive" incandescent bulbs that are actually much more expensive than LED's now (plus the risk of changing high lights on a ladder every 9 months.
Did you read the parent post? This is a case of buyers who want to buy electric... who walk in prepared to buy electric... and the sales people steer or even actively push the buyer away from electric. Mainly- again from the article- because the electric car will cost the buyer LESS money on maintenance.
You can bet the dealerships
Dealers cannot die soon enough (Score:3)
Why should they make any profit whatsoever? They're an anachronistic middle man.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
why are they anachronistic middle man? the auto OEM wants to be an OEM, not a retail sales company. that's why they choose to contract with the dealers. you think Kia wants to open up their own showrooms at malls across america? I assure you not. The dealer is there not for the benefit of the consumers, but for the benefit of the OEMs.
Re:Dealers cannot die soon enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Hey, if Kia doesn't want to sell directly to me - Tesla does. I have no problem with both business models competing with one another.
I do, however, have a problem with needing to deal with middle-men because of protectionist laws that forbid companies like Tesla from selling directly to me. But hey, YMMV, right?
Re: (Score:2)
this is a +1 all-star comment. people have such a hard-on for hating on dealers. there are good dealers and bad dealers. go to the good dealers. use tools like truecar.com to get an independent assessment of car prices. you can call up the truecar website when talking with the dealer.
Re: (Score:3)
You sound like you've never heard of the independent mechanic that as far as I can tell
You sound even worse. An independent has to specialize in a topic, like transmissions. Would you trust him to work on the cars computer system? A dealership say Ford, has to be able to work on all aspects of fords, same with gm, chyrsler and Toyota. And stand behind their repair.
You absolutely proved him correct when you claim an independent has to specialize in a topic as narrow as transmissions. Most independent mechanics I have used have been able to work on a wide range of automobiles. There has been some very specialized work, such as with more rare hybrids like the 05-07 accord hybrid, where I have had to use a dealer in the past. But I have only had one car repair in 20 years that needed a dealer. And if dealers did not exist, the market would compensate for those rare cases
The takeaway is that Tesla is right (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Even beyond the conflict of interest, the dealer doesn't actually provide a useful knowledge base to help you make an informed decision when buying a car. If you ask them *any* question whose answer isn't plainly stated on the sticker or in the meager sales brochure, you will get one of two answers: 1) A shrug and, "I dunno". or 2) A flat out lie. A couple hours of research on a car will make you the foremost expert in the building on that particular car. By a significant margin. Car sales people are
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
when was the last time you shopped for a car? I shopped for a car last summer, and it was an eye opening experience. some dealerships were dodgy and I got out of there fast, and other dealerships were really great and spent a lot of time with me.
and dealers aren't useless. they have incredible value... to the OEM. you think a foreign company like Kia wants to put billions into the ground to open up retail stores across America? They would much rather partner with other companies to be the retail agents, aka
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
And we have a winner. :)
The dealers, through political patronage, are fighting tooth and nail to prevent this model for the very reason that it will dramatically cut into their post-sales revenue stream.
There is absolutely no reason for dealers to exist anymore. Just allow the car manufacturers to have showrooms and sell/maintain vehicles without the middleman.
Surely, those smarmy sales guys can get jobs working for EMC, Cisco, Oracle or somesuch. :)
Re: (Score:2)
There is absolutely no reason for dealers to exist anymore. Just allow the car manufacturers to have showrooms and sell/maintain vehicles without the middleman.
why would you think that if the law changed that everything would become different? OEMs don't *want* to sell direct to public. They like the dealer model. it works very well for them.
Re: (Score:2)
buy a used e-car (Score:2)
Next line of thinking (Score:3)
"Would you like to buy the lifetime software upgrades for only 10 easy payments of $99.95? It's non-tranferrable."
Less service? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not sure the average service cost is that much less when you factor in replacing a $4000 battery pack every 8 to 10 years.
Well, that's a single big expense.. It's not a yearly visit to check oil every year...
Granted I don't know much about cars, but don't eletric cars still need winter tires, aren't there still moving parts that needs oil, etc?
Re: (Score:2)
Granted I don't know much about cars, but don't eletric cars still need winter tires, aren't there still moving parts that needs oil, etc?
You only need winter tires if you're in a location that experiences winter. Even then, for most of the USA good quality all-seasons* are more than sufficient. You still need to replace them though.
Yes, there's generally still 'lots' of oil in an electric vehicle. However, the reason engine oil needs to be replaced so often is heat and contamination. The heat breaks down the oil eventually, and the byproducts of combustion contaminate it, which is why you need a filter.
The oil in a properly operating EV
Re: (Score:2)
Where I live, 2" of snow would mark the coming of the next Ice Age....
Re: (Score:2)
Where I live, 2" of snow would mark the coming of Halloween.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, we had more than 2" already before Halloween, it's just that we got a fresh 2" today.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, that's a single big expense.. It's not a yearly visit to check oil every year...
You should check the oil in your car more often than once a year.
Re: (Score:3)
I would suspect that battery swaps, while they involve a very expensive part, would be pretty unexciting for the dealer. Unless the manufacturer is extraordinarily tight-lipped, the price of the battery will become public knowledge; and the procedure for swapping it out(while it might require equipment that makes DIY impract
Re: (Score:2)
ppppfffft...
I only go to the dealer for the every 30K service. The more frequent stuff I do at whatever "jiffy lube" happens to be most convenient on that particular day.
Going to the dealer for everything is too much of a bother.
That's one reason I would avoid crummy American brands and over hyped luxury brands.
Re:Less service? (Score:5, Informative)
Every car I've ever owned has had more than $4k in maintenance costs by the time it's 10 years old. The water pump, the timing belt, flushing the transmission, flushing the radiator, etc... amount to a pretty penny. But the oil changes alone are going to net you more than $1000 in that timeframe. You get one major part going out on a combustion car that requires the engine to be disassembled and you'll drop $1k before they even know what's wrong. Yea if you do all your own maintenance you can save money on stuff but mechanical engines break down over time.
And from what I've seen of battery replacement information the only batteries failing at 8-10 years are the NiMH batteries in the Prius. The lithium-ion in the more advanced vehicles have not exhibited the same failure rate and currently have a very poorly understood failure rate because not many have failed.
Extrapolating from two anecdotes (Score:3)
Not exactly the most rigorous analysis I've seen.
Re: (Score:2)
But above average for the news media.
This is a nonsequitur (Score:2, Flamebait)
Re: (Score:2)
Or if you didn't fill up/recharge last night because you forgot or what have you, and can't make it to work in the morning on what you have. With a gasoline car, it amounts to a brief five minutes of additional time on the way to work to fill up and you are good to go... with no need to think about it for several days.
Re: (Score:2)
And this is why I didn't bother to reply to the rest of your message. This is activism. Some people - many people - WANT trucks and SUVs. And it's their right to buy them. You need to realize that you're part of a tiny minority of people who cares about this thing - what exactly you care about I can't say for sure, but it's not something the majority of people care about. Most peo
Re: (Score:2)
Because when other use-cases really exist, even though they are much less frequent, one ends up either having to own two cars, one of which hardly gets used, or they end up having to deal with renting one. The former isn't typically seen as cost effective by many (and in some cases isn't even viable on account of a lack of parking), and the latter is staggeringly inconvenient compared to just owning the car.
Someday electric cars may be the norm (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Someday electric cars may be the norm (Score:2)
What's limiting right now is car manufacturers failing to provide a product because electric is inherently less costly to produce and maintain than ICE vehicles thus margins are going to be a lot smaller.
There is also no governmental support to come up with an open standard for charging across existing and upcoming brands or mandate gas stations to install a single charger per dozen or so pumps.
Tesla is making top-end, well supported cars (ala Ferrari/Rolls Royce) for the price of an average outfitted luxur
Too much explaining require? Really? (Score:3)
Industry insiders say that electric vehicles do not offer dealers the same profits as gas-powered cars, they take more time to sell because of the explaining required, and electric vehicles may require less maintenance, undermining the biggest source of dealer profits — their service departments.
Electric cars are the future, gasoline guzzling cars are not. Anybody who thinks like that should join the same support group frequented by all those people who bet their business on film cameras being the future because "it takes too long to explain to customers how them them newfangled digital cameras work". Anybody who puts in the effort to push electric cars today faces an uphill struggle but also stands a good chance to gain market share down the line at the expense of established dealers who are to short sighted to bother with new technology.
I'm going to enjoy this more than I should (Score:5, Insightful)
If you were to ask me what I like most about electric cars (and Tesla in particular), it wouldn't be the economic or environmental benefits, or even the technology.
It's the way they are taking a long stagnant and mostly non-innovative industry and dragging it kicking and screaming into the 21st century. If the people who constantly preach about the free market truly appreciated the concept, they would know that in a legitimately free market, you either change with the times or you get kicked to the curb to make room for those who are actually innovating.
The more they resist, the more I'm going to enjoy watching them weep and wail as they slowly become irrelevant.
Re: (Score:3)
You are making a very common mistake of free enterprisors here... you are ignoring (or denying) the externalities. Government intervention is necessary to deal with this problem. Some of the interventions, such as bumper design requirements to minimize harm in collisions effect both gasoline and electric cars, while others, such as emissions and fuel economy requirements only effect gasoline cars.
While there is certainly much to criticize about government subsidies for $100,000 luxury cars, they start to ma
This problem will solve itself (Score:2)
Obligatory Responses (Score:5, Funny)
"My daily commute is 762 miles. Therefore, electric cars are useless to anyone and everyone."
(Variation also acceptable: "Twice a year I drive 600 miles to Phoenix. Therefore, electric cars are useless to anyone and everyone.")
"My electric power comes from coal, therefore all electric cars are more polluting than my Grandpa's 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass."
Catch-22 (Score:2)
Better question (Score:4, Insightful)
A better question. Just why is it so profitable to sell gas powered cars?
Re: (Score:2)
You can make an argument that having a lot of
Easy answer (Score:3)
"What are you doing to make selling electric cars as profitable and painless for your dealers as selling gasoline or diesel vehicles?"
What am I doing? That's easy: I'm NOT GIVING A SHIT HOW THEY FEEL. If I want to buy one, I'll walk into a dealer, and they can take my money, or not. Salesman's not making enough money? Wah wah wah, go get a real fucking job and do something USEFUL for a living.
And again: why do we need car sales people even? (Score:3)
In a connected world, customers can pick the cars straight with the makers - the whole article is written as if the unnecessary middle-men where a show stopper. They are the ones being stopped, and what makes one wonder is that are not gone already.
Re:Better Question (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
I'm surprised that some VC's aren't already plotting their demise as we speak.
Re: (Score:3)
Dealers are very well entrenched at the local political level. Most dealers are some of the richest and most connected people in their local markets. Many states have laws written around dealers and basically granting them monopolies over car sales.
As Tesla has discovered in Texas, getting these laws removed from the books is near impossible because of how well connected dealers are.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
what do you think about the argument that as cars become more and more complex, the service technicians will need to have more specialized knowledge about particular brands, and service shops will need more and more specialized equipment custom to certain brands, like diagnostic computers or similar. This is a strong argument for service shops that specialize in one or a select few OEMs. The dealership model is one way of getting this result.
Re:Better Question (Score:4, Interesting)
Wow, that's an interesting reading of this thread. I thought I was responding to the hypothetical idea that nobody would repair cars if we didn't have a state-mandated dealer system. Apparently not.
I think that's somewhat true, but I also think that what the dealers will look like will be somewhat different. They'll end up competing with the few OEMs (like Tesla) that control their buying experience, and frankly, the buying experience through those operations is superior. There's not a human on earth who enjoys dealing with car dealers, so as soon as any cracks in the system show, they'll have to change their ways. They definitely won't go away (for reasons you mentioned), but they'll probably start looking more like retailers and less like the hellscapes they currently are. Toyota will be saying, "We have to compete with Tesla on price and quality, but we also have to deal with the hit that comes from a miserable buying experience." The threat that Toyota will start selling directly will definitely put pressure on Toyota dealers to up their game.
I think this will be the game changer. I bought 2 of my last 3 cars through CarsDirect. Reasonable straightforward price that's easy to check, no negotiation or games. My last car was delivered to me at my office with the paperwork. If I had to guess, I'd say we're going to move more and more toward that model and the only people who haggle at the dealer are going to be the real sharks who aren't profitable to haggle with. Once that starts to happen, the incentive for having a staff of professional hagglers goes away. Eventually, I expect prices will normalize and dealers will have to differentiate on other factors.
Re: (Score:2)
Under your proposed model, commodities would only be available for the short period of time after those farmers had harvested them. No storage, no long distance delivery. The rest of the year you do without.
The great value that our system of food distributorship in this country is that it provides a great abundance and variety of food commodities available for most of the year.
In the case of cars, the direct sales model would be preferable.
Re: (Score:2)
it would be more preferable for you, but the OEMs would prefer to keep the dealer model. unless the dealer model becomes illegal, OEMs will choose to do this.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Except they do. They have less moving parts and the ones that are there don't burn their own lubricant, are closed to outside contaminates, and are not subject to nearly the same amount of heat and pressure.
Re: (Score:2)
I seriously doubt..... that you know anything about maintaining cars, electric or I/C.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course blame the salesman. This problem isn't just about electric car. It's also about cheaper versions of gas cars. That also includes all of the stupid "dealer add ons" they indulge in. Some of these are consumables that only last for the first year of the car and jack up the price significantly.
My favorite one is the "nitrogen filled tires". [breathes in deeply]
I was interested in a car that was already on the lot but I had to out wait the stupid salesmen on my last car for about 4 months before they
I talked to the manager... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
car salesman lives matter
Re: (Score:3)
Coal powered cars are a bad idea.
No they aren't. Coal can be converted to electricity at about 40% efficiency, and that can be stored in a battery and converted to motive power at about 90% efficiency, so a total of about 35%. A gasoline ICE has an efficiency of about 15%. If the electricity comes from NG, the efficiency is even higher. Also, coal is domestically produced, providing jobs for Americans. We don't fight wars over coal.
Coal is filthy, and should be phased out as soon as economically feasible. But even coal generated elec
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Good (Score:3, Insightful)
You totally misunderstand the value of forcing all oil to be sold in dollars. Since the world runs on oil, and countries must purchase oil in dollars, the countries of the world must keep a large reserve of dollars. This increases the value of the dollar, allowing us to offset by printing more without inflation. Fighting wars over oil is a very real thing. You just don't understand the mechanism of how this works obviously.
Re: Good (Score:4, Informative)
It's that the sellers of oil prefer to be paid in dollars, because then they can do something with that money which is relatively safe and secure.
In any case, the bond market is much bigger than the petroleum market, and that is the source of dollar, and euro, dominance.
Re: (Score:2)
That's a very poor generalization. I have a family member who works for a dealer (has worked as a salesman and also a manager) and he is most definatly not "scum".
Then again, this is Australia where the kind of scum tactics they can get away with in the USA aren't allowed.
Re: Black boxes (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Did you get the TruCoat?