VADA town hall meetings re Tesla

[bhzmark]

Your business is under attack. Watch a short message from VADA President and CEO Don Hall - and please join us for a Town Hall meeting in your area - this is something you will not want to miss!




Tuesday, September 13
Staunton, VA
10 - 11 a.m.
Stonewall Jackson Hotel
and Conference Center
24 S Market St,
Staunton, VA 24401

Tuesday, September 13
Roanoke, VA
2 - 3 p.m.
Sheraton Roanoke Hotel
and Conference Center
2801 Hershberger Rd NW,
Roanoke, VA 24017

Tuesday, September 20
Virginia Beach, VA
11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
The Founders Inn
5641 Indian River Rd,
Virginia Beach, VA 23464

Tuesday, October 4
Richmond, VA
2 - 3 p.m.
The Place
4036 Cox Rd.
Glen Allen, VA

Wednesday, September 21
Leesburg, VA
2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
SkillsUSA
14001 SkillsUSA Way
Leesburg, VA 20176

Thursday, September 22
Springfield
10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Residence Inn Springfield
6412 Backlick Rd.
Springfield, VA 22150

Let there be no mistake. Tesla is preparing an attack on Virginia's franchise laws with an aggressive, vigorous campaign targeting legislators in the next General Assembly.

You cannot afford to miss Don's special presentation, insight and understanding. VADA's position is recognized nationwide. Fast Company, a leading magazine, quotes Don in this month's issue. http://hrada.com/halltesla/Fast Company Article.pdf

All dealers and GMs are strongly encouraged to attend this one-hour presentation. There will be time after for questions.

 

[Saghost]

Look at all the other industries which have been attacked and changed... (doesn't name any, or give any hints what he's talking about.) Tesla and many others are attacking us (no indication of any others AFAIK, and he certainly doesn't suggest anyone else.)

Not a very persuasive message - which is probably a good thing since it is an outdated system that adds cost without delivering value.

 

[jdo]

More like Darth Vada . . .

 

[swengl]

Bring on the change.....

 

[TexasEV]

Interesting how they frame it as "your business is under attack." They've never been in the business of selling Teslas, and if they continue to not sell Teslas how is that being "under attack"? Their mindset shows they believe they have the exclusive right to sell any new company's product that happens to be a car.

 

[swengl]

The activity is certainly designed to reduce competition in the automobile selling market and is a predatory act designed to maintain a monopoly already established. It's pretty much a textbook violation of the idea behind antitrust laws and should be stopped.

 

[bhzmark]

to clarify, the text in the OP is from a communication from VADA -- not me in case anyone was confused. I suggest that if someone wants to go to the town hall meetings that they be super respectful and polite and nonconfrontational and perhaps just stick to a free market angle saying that government shouldn't tell consumers how to buy cars and you just want consumer choice to buy cars from whomever you want.

Those dealers that do a good job and add value, then consumers will buy from them.

It's just consumer choice without the gubmint telling consumers how to buy cars.

The mostly republican dealers will likely experience cognitive dissonance and their heads might explode so stand back.

 

[swengl]

to clarify, the text in the OP is from a communication from VADA -- not me in case anyone was confused. I suggest that if someone wants to go to the town hall meetings that they be super respectful and polite and nonconfrontational and perhaps just stick to a free market angle saying that government shouldn't tell consumers how to buy cars and you just want consumer choice to buy cars from whomever you want.

Those dealers that do a good job and add value, then consumers will buy from them.

It's just consumer choice without the gubmint telling consumers how to buy cars.

The mostly republican dealers will likely experience cognitive dissonance and their heads might explode so stand back.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was pointing fingers at you, but the VADA's actions in this case are dubious, at best.

 

[EVTECH]

Perfect location in Virginia Beach. The Founders Inn has Tesla Destination charging setup!

 

[tinm]

Gotta hand it to VADA. They even lie to their own dealer-members. Look what they say boogeyman Tesla is out to do!

 

[Lanny]

Article about this in the Washington Post today.

Auto dealers sound alarm as Tesla pushes for second Virginia store

 

[jthompson]

Article about this in the Washington Post today.

Auto dealers sound alarm as Tesla pushes for second Virginia store

Actually a surprisingly factual article with little bias written by the Compost. Could the Compost be changing for the better?

 

[MMC-]

Actually a surprisingly factual article with little bias written by the Compost. Could the Compost be changing for the better?

My thoughts also. I was expecting more FUD content than what was written.

 

[Max*]

WaPo is very liberal, I don't see them pilling crap on Tesla.

 

[Max*]

“There are consumer reasons you don’t want the distribution chain controlled from top to bottom,” she said. “You can go to any number of Honda dealers, competing on price and service.”

:slow clap: Spot on. Which is why it costs ludicrous amounts of money to have an annual service on a Tesla.

 

[swengl]

I'm sure most of you have already seen this, but just in case: Support TESLA in Virginia

 

[bhzmark]

:slow clap: Spot on. Which is why it costs ludicrous amounts of money to have an annual service on a Tesla.

It costs money to hire intelligent people to work at Tesla service and provide valet pickups and dropoffs and loaners.

I'm happy to pay more for better service.

 

[Max*]

It costs money to hire intelligent people to work at Tesla service and provide valet pickups and dropoffs and loaners.

I'm happy to pay more for better service.

But Tesla is not giving an option to take your car to get it serviced elsewhere, since they're acting as a monopoly on repairs.

I can take a BMW/Audi/Benz to Jiffy Lube (not that I recommend it), but I can't take a Tesla anywhere but authorized Tesla body shops and/or the service center for work.

There is no shopping around involved.


Don't get me wrong, I don't like the traditional dealership model. I prefer the way Tesla does the selling. But that one sentence (whether you dislike it or not, doesn't change the fact) is spot on. If there's no competition, a body shop can charge a lot more to do the same repair. The service center can charge a lot more than a small mom and pop shop.

It costs money to hire intelligent people to work at Tesla service and provide valet pickups and dropoffs and loaners.

I'm happy to pay more for better service.

I'm sorry but this is condescending and wrong. It costs money for ANY dealership to hire intelligent people, and there are intelligent people working at dealerships (I'm not saying all of them are, just like you can't say all the people working as Tesla technicians are intelligent)

They don't do valet though, but most dealerships provide loaners.

 

[trils0n]

Surprised at the tactic Tesla has taken for defending their own stores. (Not that they should have to defend their business model -- they should be free to choose how to sell their own product)

I'd think the "We should be able to choose how we want to sell our product" would be a more straightforward argument than "Well, dealers won't make money on service or markup" or "Electric cars are difficult to sell / conflict with selling ICE cars". I guess the conflict is a better argument -- nearly everything good about an electric car highlights a negative element of a gas car, and if gas cars + service are their main business, that results in a conflict.

No business should be forced into selling to middlemen. That is just ridiculous. But it is exactly the business model the dealers want protected, because they are those legally-protected middlemen.

As to service: I view the "Tesla as only source of service" as a separate issue that relates to repair rights, not to right of sale. Don't let the dealership lobby conflate those two separate issues. Right to repair laws will have to force Tesla to offer diagnostic software and parts soon enough, regardless of how the cars are sold.

 

[Lanny]

BREAKING:
Tesla gets green light for second Virginia store