It’s bad enough the government will soon be doling out billions and billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out the bloated, mismanaged U.S. auto industry.
But please, please, do not give any of that money to the nation’s car dealers.
According to a Yahoo story, an auto bailout package is likely to pass in large part because of pressure from the American auto dealership lobby. Even worse, a spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association says he wants dealers to get some of that money.
“That legislation needs to operate to ensure the presence and the viability of the dealer network. The two go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other,” the spokesman said. Another industry lobbyist said dealers are bringing a ‘lot of heat’ on legislators to get a deal passed.
Ugh. I can’t stand the car dealership lobby. There are thousands of car dealerships in the U.S., in almost every district in the nation. They have a ton of money and yield far too much influence in our political system. The automobile dealer network is an inefficient, outdated business model which has only continued to thrive because of its successful political wrangling.
You want to know why you can’t go on the Internet today and buy a car directly from a manufacturer (or even from a dealer)? Because in most states, the auto dealer lobby has made sure that direct selling of cars is illegal. The best you can do is go to a site and ask for a quote from your local dealer, who will undoubtedly try and upsell you a whole bunch of stuff you don’t need as soon as you get to her lot.
I’ve only had to go through the car purchase process once but I remember it being about as unpleasant as can be, as I was quite sure I was being screwed in a thousand different ways. The Internet has helped level the information playing field somewhat, but it could have done so much more if car dealers hadn’t successfully resisted almost all efforts at innovation.
Unfortunately for the US taxpayer, it’s mostly business as usual … on their lots AND in the hallways of Congress.
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