One In Six Cadillac Dealers Opt To Close Instead of Selling Electric Cars (thedrive.com) 186
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Drive: General Motors knows all too well that a fully electric future is coming. As a company, GM wants to have 30 EVs for sale by 2025 and Cadillac will reportedly be leading the Detroit automaker's electric charge in the United States. Recently, it was reported that GM told dealerships to invest in the future or get out of the way. Cadillac has 880 dealerships nationwide, and now, citing sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports that 150 of them have taken a $300,000 to $1,000,000 buyout to cease operations instead of investing $200,000 in charging infrastructure and other updates to their facilities to support the brand's electric future.
This is a little more than one in six Cadillac dealerships nationwide, so in a nutshell, a fair amount of them will probably close. It's unclear if GM expected so many to take the buyout, however, a $200,000 investment is likely a lot to ask for many dealerships, especially during a pandemic. That being said, some of Cadillac's vehicles like the XT6 crossover have seen dramatic increases in sales over the past year, and it's betting on the new electric Lyriq SUV to further improve its fortunes.
This is a little more than one in six Cadillac dealerships nationwide, so in a nutshell, a fair amount of them will probably close. It's unclear if GM expected so many to take the buyout, however, a $200,000 investment is likely a lot to ask for many dealerships, especially during a pandemic. That being said, some of Cadillac's vehicles like the XT6 crossover have seen dramatic increases in sales over the past year, and it's betting on the new electric Lyriq SUV to further improve its fortunes.
buggy whip salesmen (Score:5, Insightful)
1 in 6 buggy whip salesmen decide to go out of business rather than carry smelly motor oil and gasoline, attest interest group spokesmen.
Re:buggy whip salesmen (Score:5, Insightful)
If $200K is considered a big sum of money, that dealership has bigger problems.
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Another way to look at it is that there are marginal operations out there and being offered a substantial buyout is a godsend to them, giving them something substantial to shut down. Sometimes a shakeout is in order.
It's blindingly obvious this is trimming deadwood (Score:2)
GM is literally paying 1.5-5x what the "modernizations" would cost. They're literally spending more, in some cases a LOT more, than just paying for the upgrades themselves. There's absolutely no logical or business reason to do this aside from deliberately shutting down the dealers that can't or won't go along with the new plan.
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> I suspect it getting rid os some franchises was one of several
>reasons GM and others dropped some brands years ago (remember
>Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Plymouth?).
Given that all of those dealers were offered transfers to the other brands at manufactures expense, I seriously doubt that.
However, the small dealers are a headache and fare more expensive for the manufacturers to support. They can't simply be dropped, but what would Cadillac do with a dealer that won't invest the cost of three cars into bei
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By law the legacy automakers have far less control over their dealers than, say, fast food parent companies do over their franchisees. Many Chevrolet dealers simply refused to accept the Volt or Bolt as a viable product, transferred all their inventory to other dealers or wholesalers, and never paid to have mechanics EV certified. GM is indeed anticipating that EVs will be at least a substantial
Re: buggy whip salesmen (Score:2)
Don't forget a lot of dealerships are "chains", 1 person/group owning several dealerships. So this is also quite likely just a chance to get paid to cut a failing dealership and consolidate operations.
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Well let's just say it isn't as clear cut as you make out.
Re: buggy whip salesmen (Score:2)
If you agree to spending $200K the way GM wishes, then there will be more demands in the future. If you tell them to mind there own affairs, then they will at least respect you as a business person. Sometimes decisions are about power and profitability.
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Automakers dictate investments by dealerships all the time - it's a basic part of the relationship - at issue is the cash offer to cut a struggling brand, not the investment. Cadillac could have covered the investment for each dealership with the cost of the buyout, Cadillac is culling the herd, the investment is a distraction.
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It's clear that Tesla did it all for free.
??? What is it that Tesla did, all for free?
Re:buggy whip salesmen (Score:5, Informative)
According to NADA [nada.org] [PDF], the 2017 *average* net profit for a light vehicle dealership was ~$1.4 million.
Luxury dealers - which Cadillac is part of (albeit not at the top of that list) - averaged $2.4 million. per year.
It's strange, because things like performance, low noise and smoothness or ride are all things that luxury brands strive for, and yet come naturally to electric vehicles. You'd think it would be a no-brainer to embrace these qualities, ride the coat tails of Tesla that has such a reputation among car buyers they can barely make them fast enough, and leveraging their own brand while also indulging in a little greenwashing to appeal to modern markets...
But rather than invest less than a month's profits over the course of two or three years, they chose to cash out entirely. These people are fools. Good riddance.
=Smidge=
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So I would not be surprised to find that a handful of high profit dealerships pull that average up, and the ones taking the buyout are barely getting by.
Re:buggy whip salesmen (Score:4, Informative)
From an article linked in the article, most of these are dealership groups that deal in multiple GM brands;
"Most dealers who accepted the buyout also own one or more of GMâ(TM)s other brandsâ"Chevrolet, Buick and GMCâ"and sell only a handful of Cadillacs a month, the people familiar with the effort said."
They have the money. Dealership groups like this are the ones that bring the averages up. They just don't want to invest in the brand.
=Smidge=
Re:buggy whip salesmen (Score:4, Informative)
Dealerships also make a lot of money doing repairs and maintenance.
For EVs, that is WAY less money. They don't need oil changes, filter changes, radiator flushing. They have way fewer moving parts.
The only maintenance is the tires and the windshield wipers.
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This sounds entirely believable. If you're a multi-brand GM dealer, I'd wager you are selling an awful lot of Chevy and GM branded SUVs along with a much smaller number of Cadillac Escalades and XT series SUVs and probably very few Cadillac sedans.
I've done work for ages for a very high income country club and the most common GM product in the lot is a Suburban/Tahoe/Yukon, usually at the top trim level. Very few Escalades or other Cadillac SUVs. I think the non-Cadillac SUVs are basically so expensive n
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Cadillac is one of five brands they sell (Score:5, Informative)
In just checked and my nearest Cadillac dealer sells five different brands of cars.
The dealership may make $2.4 million total. According to the NADA document you linked, around $1.5 million of that is from new vehicle sales. Across five brands or however many. So Cadillac sales may account for $200K profit at a successful dealership.
Most of the dealerships are investing in the new stuff to sell electric Cadillacs. The 15% who aren't making as much with Cadillacs, or don't expect to, aren't making that investment. That bottom 15% would be earning something like $50K-$100K from selling new Cadillacs.
> These people are fools.
"These people", are making $2.4 million per year, according to you. Are you making ten times as much as "these people", whom you call fools? Maybe the people who are twenty times as successful as you are so successful in part because they know what they are doing. Quite the display of arrogance there, for you to say "these people routinely make $2.4 million every year, they are fools. They need to listen to me - I just got promoted to assistant manager at Wendy's".
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Meanwhile: Tesla set up a nationwide charger network and let people use it for free.
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Where "free" means 12-24 cents per minute, or 28 cents per kwh. Except where the cost is higher.
https://www.tesla.com/support/... [tesla.com]
Re:Cadillac is one of five brands they sell (Score:4, Informative)
my model 3 is about 1 year old, I've been using SC network for free (truly free) the last year and I have 1 more year left on the comp 2 years that was part of my sale.
they don't do this very much, if at all, anymore. but they once did.
some cars even still have SC for life of the car. those were usually early S or X models.
even when I'm off my free 'plan', its still cheaper than gas; and don't forget, a lot of us have free (truly free) charging at work, where our cars are parked all day (well, back in the non-virus days, that is).
when I drove an ICE car, my gas bill was over $300/mo. that's one thing I won't have to think about or care about; and its been nice NOT having to visit gas stations every week like I used to do. even when sitting at the SC, its not the same 'scene' that gas stations have. you're there for 10 or even 30 minutes (if you need a full charge, perhaps you are doing a long distance drive) and there's no noise, no smell, none of the BS that we all just assumed was part of 'car ownership'.
this is my first electric and I'm not planning on ever going back to ICE. anyone who have lived with an electric feels that way.
this is the future. and its a good one (for a change).
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Of course if the number of people with electric cars went up even marginally it would be hard to get those free chargers- very few spots have it. And I hope you don't change jobs to where you don't get that.
And the biggest burden- hope you don't live in an apartment with a parking garage or lot, because there's no way they'll be putting in chargers anytime soon. The charging thing is still a very significant hurdle that is nowhere near solved.
Re: Cadillac is one of five brands they sell (Score:2)
I'd wager that most people who even care to own an electric car already live in a house with a garage anyways.
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My friend called me to say he took this option instead of using my referral. I said its ok. Even the existing referral free miles are not getting used much.
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Until recently new Teslas came with free Supercharging for life. I'm happy to report that my 2015 Model S has benefited greatly from this and I estimate that I have benefited from 30,000 miles of free electricity.
Newer Teslas come may come with 1000 miles of free Supercharging (depending on promotions).
Supercharging cost varies by location and time of day and is primarily determined by Tesla's cost of electricity at the site.
That said, even paying for Supercharging or home charging, it's much cheaper than g
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It works out to 4 times cheaper than gas, mile for mile.
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Electricity is expensive in Germany. Nobody buys it for "5 to 7 cents".
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The industrial market, and Tesla would be that, pays around 6cent.
You are mixing up consumer prices with factory prices.
And 35cent is absurd, I pay 23cent.
Re: Cadillac is one of five brands they sell (Score:2)
I don't know why I end up doing research for ignorant basement dwellers but here it is:
The average power price for households and small businesses in Germany stood at 30.43 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) in 2019, according to the economy and energy ministry (BMWi). With 53 percent, politically determined components, such as taxes, levies, and surcharges, accounted for more than half of the price in that year, an analysis by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) found.
Nearly one quar
Re:Cadillac is one of five brands they sell (Score:5, Funny)
I suspect the dealerships are delighted to be paid to drop a low-volume brand like Cadillac.
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According to NADA [nada.org] [PDF], the 2017 *average* net profit for a light vehicle dealership was ~$1.4 million.
Luxury dealers - which Cadillac is part of (albeit not at the top of that list) - averaged $2.4 million. per year.
I'm guessing that this 1 in 6 is not the average dealer. They might even be the lower 1/6 earning dealers. The report that you linked to didn't contain enough information to say, just plain means.
Re:buggy whip salesmen (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm guessing that this 1 in 6 is not the average dealer. They might even be the lower 1/6 earning dealers.
Given that this is the real world we're talking about, it's likely a mix of:
* People who were planning to retire soon anyway, and figured they might as well cash out.
* People who were planning to sell or close up shop soon, and figured they might as well cash out.
* Low performing dealers that have been struggling for a few years.
* People who don't think there's a future in electric, and are reasoning that they'll close sometime in the future anyway, so might as well take the money and do it now.
* People who have reasonably sampled their customer base, and don't see a demand for electric, or who know there's some serious anti-electric sentiments in it.
* People who make more on parts and service than sales, and who reasonably see a shift to electric as undercutting that in the future.
* People who bought or inherited the dealership and have been miserable ever since, but haven't seen a way out.
Among others....
It's never a good idea to just assume homogeneity when it comes to people.
Re:buggy whip salesmen (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:buggy whip salesmen (Score:5, Insightful)
It is likely that the dealerships offer multiple Marques, and while they could likely absorb the $200K investment, the appeal of cashing a million dollar check and being rid of a struggling luxury brand was likely too appealing.
Do you drive a Cadillac? Does anyone on your street drive a Cadillac? Anyone at the office (remember those?) drive a Cadillac? As brand they are struggling [cadillacsociety.com] and I suspect dealers were happy to get the buyout.
Average [Re:buggy whip salesmen] (Score:3)
According to NADA [nada.org] [PDF], the 2017 *average* net profit for a light vehicle dealership was ~$1.4 million. Luxury dealers - which Cadillac is part of (albeit not at the top of that list) - averaged $2.4 million. per year.
1. That was 2017. This is 2020, the pandemic year, and every business that isn't in business of shipping stuff over the internet is getting slammed
2. If the average profit is $1.4M, it is reasonable to assume that a good fraction of the dealers make less than this. It seems reasonable to think that 17% of them cannot reasonably afford a $200,000 expense.
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But rather than invest less than a month's profits over the course of two or three years, they chose to cash out entirely. These people are fools. Good riddance.
=Smidge=
Many of the people in the dealership business own dealerships of more than one brand/manufacturer.
By accetimg this one in a blue moon opportunity to get out with a buy out they can:
1.) Move around Backoffice personel, mechanics, salespeople, the works, geting rid of the less performing or more expensive ones.
2.) Get out of less favourable leases and move into Lot they own.
3.) Or the contrary, sell the lot they own for an additional cash infusion (needed because of the pandemic), and move to leased lots (sin
Cadillac is part of the luxury space (Score:2)
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There is likely very little under the hood of a Cadillac that a Chevy dealer couldn't fix with their inventory of Chevy parts - they are very similar products "under the hood"
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Cadillac is struggling right now
https://cadillacsociety.com/20... [cadillacsociety.com]
Do you drive a Cadillac? Any of your neighbors? Any coworkers? When was the last time you saw a Cadillac on the street? Can you even remember the last time you drove by a Cadillac dealership? Do you remember the last Cadillac ad you saw?
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It baffles me why GM & Cadillac did all that work from 1995 - 2010 to build a portfolio of well-designed and relevant cars for the first time since the early 1970s (or 1940s if you are really harsh about it) and then... let it all dribble away back to irrelevancy. Even for GM's hidebound executive management team that was a monumentally stupid move.
You're misunderstanding this (Score:2)
What's more than likely happening is that Cadillacs aren't all that profitable to sell. They're a niche car legendary for breaking down under warranty. GM probably forced a bunch of them to sell Cadillacs in order to get the high profit trucks, and during the economic downturn they don't have the weight and pull to make the dealers do that. They're using this opportunity to get out from under
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uh, no.
Cadillacs and corvettes (and now some trucks) have *far* larger margins, both for GM and the dealers.
I love my Cadillacs, and still want a '26, but have no interest in anything they're producing these days. Everything since the 2004 Deville is just a brand slapped on a GM. The sheer silliness of a 6, let alone a 4, in a "Cadillac" is mind numbing. It's just another luxury car now.
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So your contention is that every ICE vehicle sold is bought only because an EV was unavailable?
No.
Show me the EV Suburban a family of 5 can travel in comfortably, or the Electric pickup truck that all the contractors are buying.
Dealers are having a hard time stocking luxury EVs in certain upscale markets - but the family buying a Chevy Cruz didn't first look up their nearest Tesla dealership and ask about delivery times for an EV.
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https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... [slashdot.org]
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But people who actually allocate capital, seem to think Tesla is worth way more than Caddilac, or GM or almost 50% of the legacy car makers put together.
Hi; Cal Worthington here (Score:2)
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I can't imagine how good an electric Cadillac would be! I've never considered owning one, but that might change my mind.
* Silent.
* Rigid battery skateboard makes it even more of a rock solid car, but lower center of gravity improves on that.
* Massive torque at 0 RPM means it will just glide forward when you touch the pedal.
* No gears to shift, so acceleration and deceleration will be perfectly smooth.
It's like taking all of the good parts of a Cadillac and making them better!
Pre-Post edit: I just went and l
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These days the big North American brands hardly even make cars anymore. It's all trucks and SUVs. And the SUVs are really glorified station wagons. There are only just a few sedan and compact car models even offered anymore.
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These days the big North American brands hardly even make cars anymore. It's all trucks and SUVs. And the SUVs are really glorified station wagons. There are only just a few sedan and compact car models even offered anymore.
Agreed, and it's sad. I'm glad sedans went from getting 21-22MPG to 36-40, but the station wagon was a good form factor in that it was still possible to get somewhere around 25-30MPG and transport five people and their luggage. Demanding ever-higher MPG out of cars just meant that people-movers went to 'trucks' (the class in which crossovers and SUVs find themselves), which get worse MPG than the station wagons did.
I'm indeed glad that there's an overall improvement on fuel efficiency that was long overdue.
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There's an time-honored expression for this.
It's "Drives like a Cadillac"
(well, except for comparing the center of gravity to the past).
hawk
My great grandfather would approve. (Score:2)
Sure, maybe Cadillac is coming back, but Cadillac hasn't had a steady track record for decades on end, and there is no evidence that they're going to start. It is a far safer bet for a dealer to take the large pile of cash and sell other brands.
I'd certainly take a 6 or 7 figure windfall during a pandemic, instead of selling a brand whose heyday was literally 60+ years ago. My GREAT grandfather was a huge Cadillac fan, and he had many over the years. But he gave them up in the 1960s due to quality probl
What's so specific (Score:2)
I'm sure there are cadilac-specific costs but I would have thought that the major costs of charging stations for EVs would be cross-brand. eg. a dealership selling Cadillac, GM and Buick could at least share the cost of the utilities upgrades and presumably the charging stations themselves would be pretty similar.
Also the money we're talking about is $500k+ (the buyout + the added expense). It seems odd to me that they would offer more in buyout than the cost of the chargers - they must be subsidizing them
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It's only odd because you don't understand it's about culling the herd of dealers, not investing in the brand. A $200K investment is nothing major for a dealership to carry a new line of cars, but the offer of a $250K to $1M plus buyout was too attractive to pass up.
Cadillac is reinventing itself, new cars, new markets, new buyers - some dealers aren't interested in taking that leap into uncharted waters.
Original source paywalled (Score:2)
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The aftermarket will adapt. (Score:2)
Right to repair legislation is vital to fight vendor lock but the aftermarket will adapt as they do with other vehicles. ICE cars today are "very proprietary" when new then the aftermarket catches up. Independent mechs can learn to fix the EV bits as they do everything else. Those intimidated by ANY tech aren't real mechanics, just larpers or fossils who won't be missed.
Current EVs aren't worth heavy aftermarket investment because they will swiftly go obsolete. It makes more sense to recycle than repair. Cu
So what's the reason? (Score:2)
The article doesn't say although the comments at the end of the article suggests why (with various conspiracy theories) as do the comments here.
$200k doesn't sound like a lot and I would expect it to be on the order of the costs of supporting any new vehicle (new tools, parts & sales training). I would expect that this cost would offset by the sale of 15 or so vehicles.
So there must be a reason here and it's somewhat frustrating that they don't explain it. Could there be other terms that are quite one
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Really? You think there is $10-15K PROFIT in each car sold?
Uh, no.
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Really? You think there is $10-15K PROFIT in each car sold?
Uh, no.
Over the life of the vehicle - yes. Profits aren't just at the initial sale, there's financing (GMAC) commissions and service/parts which I would think is especially true for a Cadillac EV.
Looking back over my original post I probably should have noted that I was talking about lifetime, not the initial sale. Sorry.
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Uh, yes.
Not on a chevy, but on a caddie sold at list price, absolutely.
No service (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:No service (Score:5, Informative)
I know someone who manages a dealership. He tells me that most cars are sold with no direct profit, and often at a loss. He says that new car sales are, overall, break even at best, and that the dealerships survive on the financing and service departments.
I'm sure this is quite right. I leased a Nissan Leaf for 3 years. I loved the car. I loved everything about it except the limited range, but at the time I had to drive 21 miles each way to work (that's about 33 km for you metric folks) and it was a great daily drive to work car. When I leased it, I didn't know that I actually didn't have to agree to the service package so I agreed to it. Then I found out months later from other people I knew who got similar leases that having maintenance done was not required. Oh well. Anyway, I took the car in for regular "maintenance" appointments and they really didn't do much. They would update firmware as needed but the car never had a repair. And in case anybody out there doesn't know this, electric cars don't use motor oil, so they don't need oil changes, there are no spark plugs, no engine air filters to replace and apparently no transmission fluid needed either. So a lot of stuff that needs regular replacing or repair is just gone. In 3 years the car was never repaired and the only expense I had was I did have to buy new tires because the original ones wore out before the lease ended.
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All that is true and makes a certain amount of sense, but the move to EVs is all but inevitable. Choosing not to be part of it is most likely choosing extinction. This won't be their last chance, though. Other brands will also go electric.
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600 miles is over doing it. My pickup only has a 400 mile range, 300 when pulling the camper. Of course, if I need just a bit more I can put a couple of gas cans in the back, not an option with an EV.
The problem with EV is charging, both availability, (there aren't any out here) and time. Refueling a gas truck is 5 minutes, an EV is 40 if you want a full charge.
When Motel 6 has overnight charge capability for even half its guests get back to me. Likewise when Circle Montana has a charge station, let me know
Cadillac Dealership Bailouts Girls Gone Wild! (Score:2)
. . . so in a few years, when GM blackmails the US Government for another bailout . . . the US taxpayers will get to pay for this.
Brilliant!
"Pin the tail on the donkey . . . ?"
No, it's "Pin the bill on the taxpayer."
Taxpayers bailing out Cadillac dealerships . . . only in America!
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You only think that's not how politicians want it.
Small wonder (Score:2)
The are as old as their customers.
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Older.
There aren't very many 117 year olds buying cars.
Cadillac started shipping in 1903. I know someone with one of the half dozen running models from that year.
People are still buying cars (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, there was a slowdown in April [statista.com], but people are still buying cars. I work in the automotive supply chain and there's lots of demand, and it seems like it's rising going into 2021. Biggest problem right now is a steel shortage due to various steel plant issues that happened recently. So saying "a lot to ask for many dealerships, especially during a pandemic" is disingenuous. They've been doing much better than most other businesses.
The truth is that dealerships are scared because they make a ton of high markup profit off servicing gas vehicles and (1) their staff don't know anything about electric vehicles and (2) electric vehicles won't have as many ongoing service needs, like changing fluids, etc., that bring people into the dealerships where they can upsell you on service you don't really need. I had a friend who worked in a dealership service department, and there was huge pressure to sell people stuff they didn't need.
So good riddance to the dealers.
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No they're not, they are buying trucks and SUV's.
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Agreed. Hopefully more dealerships will close so we can cut them out completely and see a better approach to buying a car.
Take the buyout and switch brands. (Score:2)
The dealers who took the buyout understand two things, their local customer base and that Cadillac are not leading edge. Cadillac is a Boomer brand that likely won't do well in EV space . It's not Luddite to reject it especially since they can switch to other makes.
Not every EV will succeed. It's as if the brands famous for ICE vehicles are starting from scratch. It would be nice to see the dealer monopoly killed off and sales move to the Tesla model so every dealer who rejects EVs is good news for the cons
Not unexpected (Score:2)
For any car brand, there are always dealerships hovering on the edge of bankruptcy. While the huge reduction in repair/maintenance income is a big factor, so is a badly dated facility requiring much more updating than just accomodating EV's. Add in older ownership nearing retirement - many are still family owned, and, the next generation is not always eager to become part of the family business. Changing demographics could be a factor - their target market now lives too far away.
I exoect a major motivator
This actually makes sense in some cases (Score:2)
When you think about it, this might be a good excuse for some dealers to take the money and get out. Car dealerships have an artificially subsidized market, in that you can _only_ buy new cars from dealerships. There's all sorts of business-owner-friendly rules in place (partially in the name of job protection...a service advisor or office clerk at a car dealer is a solid middle class job.) As a result, you'll have lowish-volume car dealers in lots of smaller markets that otherwise wouldn't support it. East
Re:Cause not completely clear (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect a variety of reasons are impacting these dealers choice to close, I suspect some have seen the electric juggernaut steaming over their repair and service revenue model, other are already feeling the economic effect of the pandemic, and some of them just want to cash out.
Re:Cause not completely clear (Score:5, Informative)
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This. The dealer network just barely made sense before, given how rare it was that the dealer actually had what you want, and how often they ended up horse-trading for it with another dealer. The public would much rather have dealers with single-digit cars per model so they can try them out, then order what they want and have it delivered. We put up with the giant-inventory-dealer model solely because it already existed.
And with more and more basic service being done by places like Jiffy Lube and Walmar
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American Automobile Manufacturers Association was much feared organization. It had pooled patents and was shaking down every car maker for
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Re:Cause not completely clear (Score:5, Interesting)
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Could just be taking the opportunity to exit the business altogether.
EVs are less lucrative for dealers than fossil cars. They need less maintenance and have fewer consumables. People are already complaining about the cost of servicing, given that when they look at the bill they mostly just connected the diagnostic system to verify it was fine and then cleaned it.
Here's My Guess - The Caddilac Demographic (Score:2)
I don't think selling electric cars is an affront to 'the right'. Stereotypical Prius owners might be, but even the reddest of righties in my circles think Teslas are desirable cars. Some might have issues with trying to call EV cars less polluting when their electricity is generated by coal and oil burning, or some of the major issues some early iterations had (the Nissan Leaf with its piss-poor range at triple the price of a Sentra springs to mind), but EVs as a whole are something that I've seen more con
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I don't think selling electric cars is an affront to 'the right'. Stereotypical Prius owners might be, but even the reddest of righties in my circles think Teslas are desirable cars. Some might have issues with trying to call EV cars less polluting when their electricity is generated by coal and oil burning, or some of the major issues some early iterations had (the Nissan Leaf with its piss-poor range at triple the price of a Sentra springs to mind), but EVs as a whole are something that I've seen more consensus on across the spectrum. It's not that.
The best selling Cadillac this year is the CT6, a 'crossover SUV'. Arguably the Escalade is their most famous model, and it's a full-sized SUV that pretty much defines the luxury SUV category.
Neither of these vehicles are prime candidates for becoming EV. The 2020 CT6 goes 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, and the 2015 Escalade (most recent I could get numbers for) is 5.7. You're not getting that kind of torque on an EV that's got enough range to rival the ICE model. You can tell that the 'EV SUV that people actually want to buy' is a tough nut to crack; Tesla's apparently not able to roll out the Cybertruck for another year.
Cadillac dealerships actually deal with people, not Excel sheets. They know their clientele, and they know what sells a Cadillac. A CT-6 that takes 12 seconds to go 0-60 won't sell any better than a CT-6 with a 120 mile range. Trying to turn Cadillac into GM's Tesla competitor is a tone deaf move that fails to recognize the niche Cadillac has: people who have Tesla money, but are choosing to not-get a Tesla.
I don't think the issue is the introduction of a Cadillac EV. I think the issue is GM making it clear that they're looking to discontinue the moneymakers.
I think you got your Cadillac models mixed up. The CT6 is a sedan, the XT6 is the crossover SUV. CT6 0-60 is 3.8 seconds and the XT6 0-60 time is 6.9 seconds. A Tesla Model Y AWD LR in "chill" mode does 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, 4.8 seconds in standard mode. The 2020 Escalade 0-60 is 6 seconds. I don't see why GM can't made an EV SUV that's under 6 seconds 0-60 time. Speaking of people with Cadillac money, at least in California, my friend traded in his Escalade and got a Model X.
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The best selling Cadillac this year is the CT6, a 'crossover SUV'.
The best selling Cadillac is the XT5. [freep.com] The CT6 is a sedan. [caranddriver.com]
Neither of these vehicles are prime candidates for becoming EV. The 2020 CT6 goes 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, and the 2015 Escalade (most recent I could get numbers for) is 5.7.
The XT5 is a prime candidate for an EV variant. The XT5 0-60 time is 7.6 seconds, [caranddriver.com] which would absolutely be improved by going EV.
BTW, the 3.8 second 0-60 time for the CT6 sedan is for the "Blackwing" engine option [caranddriver.com] that pushes the base price from $60K to $100K.
You're not getting that kind of torque on an EV that's got enough range to rival the ICE model. You can tell that the 'EV SUV that people actually want to buy' is a tough nut to crack; Tesla's apparently not able to roll out the Cybertruck for another year.
The XT5 has a city driving range [caranddriver.com] of about 390 miles. The Tesla Model X has a range of over 350 miles, has more horsepower, more torque, and more cargo space than an XT5 - with a 0-60 time o
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Wow, really? Pollution on the edge of town doesn't impact folks in the city? Are you really making that claim?
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>"Batteries are a one off cost in pollution terms and thats only until grid power is completely green."
Batteries degrade and lose charging capacity over time, But even a 30 year-old engine can be restored and made to work again.
Also, how do you replace 4,200 TWh of annual electric consumption with wind and solar?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Quickly, what image is it that Cadillac evokes?
This [theloop.ca]
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Quickly, what image is it that Cadillac evokes?
A living-room sofa on wheels.
Well you asked...
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set square
Sad but true.
Victims of their own success really. They used to put tail fins on the things, which were beautiful examples of decoration for the sake of decoration, and something that would never make it past the focus group style "designing" that is done when a company is trying to protect their brand by making it as bland and inoffensive as possible.
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