EV buyers not exactly happy with dealership experience
 

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, USA

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims...a795c9ba1.jpeg

If Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk was an I-told-you-so type of guy, here's his chance to do so. It turns out that plug-in vehicle buyers are generally less satisfied with their dealership experience than conventional-vehicle buyers. And the dealers themselves don't like the process much, either. So says a study from the University of California, Davis.

The report cited 43 interviews with automakers and dealers that sell in California as well as the JD Power 2013 Sales Satisfaction Index. The study found customer-satisfaction scores to be "much lower" for plug-in vehicle buyers than others. Maybe that's because the dealers themselves are less patient and find that selling plug-ins are more time-consuming, labor-intensive and stressful. And that's just getting the car out the door. More complications arise when dealing with the federal tax incentives issue.

Of course, Tesla scored well, relative to the other dealerships. And all that gives more credence to the company's insistence on selling its vehicles directly to customers and without a third-party dealership network. Representatives of some of these dealership groups have been lobbying against the prospect of Tesla getting direct-sales rights. Michigan is the latest battleground between Tesla and pro-dealership entities. See below for an abstract on the UC Davis report and then read more here.Continue reading EV buyers not exactly happy with dealership experience

EV buyers not exactly happy with dealership experience originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 20 Oct 2014 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Permalink | Email this | Comments

More...