According to Scott Bell , Chevrolet's global vice president, the automaker will not follow Cadillac and Buick 's move to offer buyouts to dealers who don't want to make the necessary investments to upgrade to electric vehicles .
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In fact, dealers who choose not to be acquired by Cadillac and Buick could end up selling exclusively Chevrolet vehicles, which Bell argues is good for his company.
Last week, a Buick executive said that all 2,000 of the brand’s franchise dealers in the U.S. will be given the opportunity to opt out. The opt-out means the dealer will no longer be affiliated with the Buick brand and will no longer be able to sell Buick vehicles, although it can still sell other General Motors.
The deal mirrors a similar offer by Cadillac to its dealers who didn't want to invest in upgrades required to sell the brand's new electric vehicles, such as the Cadillac Lyriq. That process was completed last year, with GM reporting that about a third, or 575 dealers, took the buyout.
The loss of Cadillac and Buick is a gain for Chevrolet, according to Bell. He noted that dealers who account for 95 percent of Chevy sales already sell at least one electric vehicle: the Chevy Bolt. To Bell, those dealers have shown a willingness to spend the money necessary to sell even more electric vehicles, which are set to launch next year.
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It’s a little hard to gauge how dealers generally feel about EVs, but some evidence suggests they’re less than thrilled about having to upgrade their businesses to accommodate an entirely new category of vehicle. Many car dealers have been in business for years. Internal combustion engines are their livelihood, and it’s understandable that they’re hesitant to fully embrace the transition to electric.
Many automakers require dealers to make expensive upgrades to their stores to accommodate charging stations and special equipment to service electric vehicles. These improvements can cost upwards of $300,000 per dealership. There is also a growing rift between franchise, who enjoy political support at the state level, and direct-to-consumer brands like Tesla and Rivian, who are eschewing the franchise model.
Bell said he sees Chevrolet's more than 3,000 dealers as being at the forefront of GM's multibillion-dollar push to get mainstream car buyers to go electric. And dealers seem to agree.
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“ We want to surpass Tesla in EVs ,” Keith McCluskey , president of the Chevrolet National Dealer Council, told Automotive News earlier this year. “ We want to meet the demand .”
