Since the days of General Motors crushing EV1s and Tesla’s dealer battles, auto dealerships have represented a substantial barrier to EV car sales. Many have been a skeptical and uneducated interface to a car buyer’s first experience with electric transportation.
But now that electric cars are expected to start taking off, will auto dealers finally get on board?
Volkswagen and its U.S. CEO Scott Keogh are planning on it.
A few weeks ago, the American division of the global German automaker began delivering the first substantial volumes of its electric SUV ID.4 to showrooms across the U.S. with the goal to have at least one at every VW dealer in America. “We’re quite proud. We want this to be a 100 percent nationwide launch with over 650 dealers,” said VW’s Keogh in an interview.
To combat the historic dealer problem, VW wanted to “fully attack and address this challenge full stop,” Keogh said.
