They can sell them, they just don’t want to order what people want to buy. It’s actually them ignoring the legitimate intention of the phrase: “The customer is always right.”
Whenever someone says that, this is actually what the author meant. If your customers keep coming in to buy size 8-11 shoes and you only want to stock sizes 12 and 13, you are wrong. The customer always knows what they are willing to buy. Some people can be coerced, but you can’t make someone who doesn’t want a truck for 100k buy one.
However, what those dealers are leaving out of their argument is that BEVs are not the only vehicles sitting unsold on their lots.
In fact, new-vehicle inventory is at a two-year high, according to Cox Automotive research.
As of the start of November, new-vehicle inventory volume in the US was sitting at a record 2.4 million units. It is safe to say that those are mostly gasoline-powered vehicles since the inventory level is currently higher than the number of EVs that the US will produce all year.
The truth is that the current interest rates have affected all automotive sales, EVs or otherwise.
It’s true some of those people who placed reservations for EVs last year are reconsidering their purchases now, as highlighted by the >group of dealers, but that’s not because they are not interested in EVs anymore. It’s because they can’t afford the several hundred >dollars more for the monthly payments now, thanks to high interest rates.
It’s anecdotal, but also widely reported by pretty much everyone who’s bought a car in the last couple of years. I bought mine a year ago. Literally nothing but full trim on the lot, and they just took delivery the day before. My friend works for the dealer group, and that’s why I bought from him, but it’s been that way for a while, apparently.
Of course, if the dealerships want to report what they are ordering to sell, I’m sure people would be interested. The car companies might have the data somewhere in their meeting notes since they are publicly traded, but that would just say what’s ordered from them, not necessarily where it goes.
They can sell them, they just don’t want to order what people want to buy. It’s actually them ignoring the legitimate intention of the phrase: “The customer is always right.”
Whenever someone says that, this is actually what the author meant. If your customers keep coming in to buy size 8-11 shoes and you only want to stock sizes 12 and 13, you are wrong. The customer always knows what they are willing to buy. Some people can be coerced, but you can’t make someone who doesn’t want a truck for 100k buy one.
https://electrek.co/2023/11/29/car-dealers-falsely-claim-voice-customers-push-slower-electric-car-adoption/
Some wont Stock them https://electrek.co/2023/05/09/us-car-dealers-evs/
I legitimately want to know the source for “they can sell them, they just don’t want to order what people want to buy.”
It’s anecdotal, but also widely reported by pretty much everyone who’s bought a car in the last couple of years. I bought mine a year ago. Literally nothing but full trim on the lot, and they just took delivery the day before. My friend works for the dealer group, and that’s why I bought from him, but it’s been that way for a while, apparently.
Of course, if the dealerships want to report what they are ordering to sell, I’m sure people would be interested. The car companies might have the data somewhere in their meeting notes since they are publicly traded, but that would just say what’s ordered from them, not necessarily where it goes.