According to a recent survey conducted among dealers across the USA, the majority of them believe that the government’s push for electrification goes too far and too fast. Almost 83 percent of the 169 dealers who participated in the survey shared this sentiment.
As a result, some dealers are voicing their concerns in the hope that the Biden administration will consider a more measured approach to the transition to electric vehicles (EVs).
Dealers cite several concerns from infrastructure to customer interest. Some key questions help to understand some of their worries. 55 percent answered “No” when asked if EVs at their dealership are generating “a lot of customer interest or sales.” 62 percent said that the Biden administration affected their business negatively in 2023.
“Electric vehicles are exciting. They’re definitely overall a good impact for our customers and for the environment, but it’s moving too fast,” said Michael Lucki, general manager of Riverhead Mazda in New York, according to Autonews. “It should be driven by consumer demand, and consumer demand isn’t there yet.”
“EVs are definitely not a want of our guests today. Who’s going to pay that kind of money for that type of vehicle when the infrastructure isn’t available?” said Mike Aus, dealer principal of Durango Motor Co., which sells Ford, Lincoln, Kia, and Toyota vehicles in Colorado. “Until the prices of them come in line with normalcy, they’re going to continue to sit there.” To its credit, Durango Motor Co. appears to advertise its prices transparently and doesn’t put markups on its vehicles either.
Read: Nearly 5,000 Dealers Urge Biden To Delay ‘Unrealistic’ EV Mandate In Second Letter
That, however, isn’t the case for many dealers who complain when they can’t shift EVs, hybrids, and even everyday combustion cars with big markups on them. Others in the survey featured by Automotive News suggest that dealers aren’t meeting buyer expectations and that in turn is leading to lessened demand.
This is far from the first time that dealers have complained about the way the Biden administration has pushed the EV agenda. Back in November of 2023, some 4,000 dealers sent a letter to the president outlining their concerns. Just days ago, approximately 4,700 dealers sent a second letter touting themselves as the “voice of the customer.”
That’s somewhat funny since the voices of actual customers want lower prices and the end of price gouging and brand-damaging markups, but evidently, the dealers aren’t advocating for those folks. As we pointed out months ago, dealers have grown somewhat accustomed to big profit margins since the pandemic, and pushing them to transition toward EVs cuts into that. Perhaps that is factoring into these survey results more than dealers like to let on.
