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Tesla looks to sell cars at Natick Mall - Current situation not working
- Thread starter aronth5
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- New England USA
David Rhee
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The article passed in town meeting tonight. The next step (a formality) is to have the Attorney General approve the zoning bylaw change.
And then of course the bills at the state level.
PS: never had to speak tonight. Just sit throughout the meeting...
PPS: Laura and John, other owners/forum members were also present. It was tedious watching government churn away...
And then of course the bills at the state level.
PS: never had to speak tonight. Just sit throughout the meeting...
PPS: Laura and John, other owners/forum members were also present. It was tedious watching government churn away...
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Does this mean that other dealers will rent storefronts in the mall and put their comparatively boring gassers on display? I could see Mercedes, BMW, Caddie, Lincoln doing it. Doubt they would get much traffic. Although every time I'm in that mall there's a new car parked in the lobby with a placard advertising the car and the dealer. It's funny I've never seen anyone actually looking at the car. Everyone is just walking around it like it's in their way. Maybe there's some branding going on.
The zoning law change was not catered towards any particular vendor or technology.
Dealers are allowed to have up to 4 cars on display/available for test drive. PERIOD.
On-site service is not permitted.
So if Maserati or Mazda wants to do the same thing they can.
Frankly, I think this would be a very smart strategy, at least for high-end brands. At a mall, the "just looking" reply to a sales clerk is perfectly credible, but once you show up at a dealership, you've revealed that you're actually in the market to buy a car. Getting your (nice) product in front of people who aren't yet poised to buy seems like a good idea.
The problem that franchise dealers would have with this model is that they don't have a monopoly on the downstream purchase. I might see a spiffy new car model in the mall at Nashua, but eventually buy it from a dealer in Boston. How does the Nashua dealer capture the revenue from his advertising? Tesla, on the other hand, has no such "leakage" problem.
The problem that franchise dealers would have with this model is that they don't have a monopoly on the downstream purchase. I might see a spiffy new car model in the mall at Nashua, but eventually buy it from a dealer in Boston. How does the Nashua dealer capture the revenue from his advertising? Tesla, on the other hand, has no such "leakage" problem.
I suppose the manufacturer could do it purely as a showroom and then introduce the local franchisees like they do on the Web. Maybe have touchscreens where you could configure a car and then search local/regional inventory for the closest match or for dealers to reply by email with "matching" offers (in quotes because when I've tried this they are often a very loose match).
Or the franchisees could fund it as a cooperative with the manufacturer, like the ads that mention "New England Ford Dealers" etc.
But my gut is that given their (over?)reactions to Telsla few dealers would want to see the manufacturers holding any kind of local real estate footprint. So it will rarely if ever happen.
Caught this article on boston.com (written 10/22/2013) http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/natick/2013/10/natick_town_meeting_approves_car_sales_bylaw_makes_way_for_t.html:
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