At least 80% of the car we are selling now are still signed for in the dealer and we offer online delivery options. Very few people have asked for at home test drives too. So at my dealer, not much has really changed apart from it is appointment only (best thing in the world IMO, gets rid of tire kickers) and we have to wear a face mask.
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It will be never the same except for you …
Of course it was quickly forgotten. A depression and world war can do that to humans!!
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The US lost far more people in October 1918 due the Spanish flu than troops during all of WW1 (195k versus 116k). And unlike the present situation, healthy men and woman in the prime of their life were amongst the most vulnerable to the Spanish Flu. All of which is to say it’s amazing that people chose to forget the Spanish Flu and not World War 1.
My understanding is the Bezos, Amazon is actively working on it (seriously).
That’s a very diplomatic way of putting it. Honestly, you watch old movies and TV shows, you read books written 100 yrs ago, and we’re “just” taking about the same things over and over again without ever seeming to learn (in a durable way). But that is a discussion for a diff forum entirely…
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Franchise lobby is not going to let today’s model disappear. I suspect there will be more “no haggle price” though. Current pricing model with a ton of margin components is leading up to “zero sum game” which pricing professionals call. Zero sum game always leads to margin erosion.
I agree. Given the absence of regulation it would be pretty easy for a new player to come in and disrupt the franchise model in urban areas. But of course the current situation is the exact opposite of “the absence of regulation.”
The dealership lobby is similar to the alcohol distribution lobby. They have avoided becoming associated with one political party. They make large donations to both political parties at the state level ensuring support in both deep blue and solid red States.
That’s fascinating. If someone had asked me for things that are, in our current cultural climate, politically agnostic, car dealerships and alcohol would not have been the first things to pop into my head!
A part of me respects the ruthless pragmatism of such an approach… And I’m also a little disturbed by it, too…
I vote every manufacturer is a one-price dealership. First test-drive is free, second is $25, third is $50. Robots do everything. I get to grill burgers, sausage, and other Merica fuel for 60 hours a week.
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In this post-Covid 19 world that is the only business model that works. Also nitrogen in the tires.
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If the economy is mostly shutdown, the sales model is irrelevant. Dealers aren’t selling as much because people don’t know where their next pay check is coming from or if they’ll be food on the table.
Cars are the second biggest purchase people make, they want to see, touch and smell that bad boy before they sign up for $400-$600 a month payment.
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If it’s for free, it’s for me.
Nitrogen is a rare gas found in outer-outer-space but the burgers are free.
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How pro are you, tho?
I think I want to buy a civic from you just for the laughs 
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There are a lot of issues with applying a second wave theory based on the Spanish flu. Could happen, sure, but there currently is insufficient evidence to say one way or the other.
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Ha! Just because an infectious disease spread in waves hundred years ago doesn’t mean it will “certainly” happen again. Could it happen? Maybe . Will it? Thousands of scientists and public authorities will try to prevent it.
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Thanks for sharing. This is an excellent evidence based website but this particular article is not peer reviewed so it ranks only as an opinion on the evidence hierarchy. The university of Minnesota has a nice paper about the three possible scenarios (page 7) None of those suggest a disappearance of the virus.
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