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EV buyers not exactly happy with dealership experience

If Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk was an I-told-you-so type of guy, here's his chance to do so. It turns out that plug-in vehicle buyers are generally less satisfied with their dealership experience than conventional-vehicle buyers. And the dealers themselves don't like the process much, either. So says a study from the University of California, Davis. The report cited 43 interviews with automakers and dealers that sell in California as well as the JD Power 2013 Sales Satisfaction Index. The study found customer-satisfaction scores to be "much lower" for plug-in vehicle buyers than others. Maybe that's because the dealers themselves are less patient and find that selling plug-ins are more time-consuming, labor-intensive and stressful. And that's just getting the car out the door. More complications arise when dealing with the federal tax incentives issue. Of course, Tesla scored well, relative to the other dealerships. And all that gives more credence to the company's insistence on selling its vehicles directly to customers and without a third-party dealership network. Representatives of some of these dealership groups have been lobbying against the prospect of Tesla getting direct-sales rights. Michigan is the latest battleground between Tesla and pro-dealership entities. See below for an abstract on the UC Davis report and then read more here. New Car Dealers and Retail Innovation in California's Plug-In Electric Vehicle Market Abstract: Innovative new products like plug-in electric vehicles may need new approaches to market and sell them. We conducted 43 interviews with automakers and dealers selling plug-in vehicles in California's major metro markets and analyzed data on customer satisfaction with new car dealers and Tesla stores. Initial findings revealed: • Plug-in vehicle buyers rated the dealer purchase experience much lower than conventional vehicle buyers while Tesla earned industry-high scores; • Plug-in vehicles returned higher gross profits but place greater demands on dealers, including the provision of support services beyond traditional offerings; • New retail approaches undertaken by 'dealer innovators', including new methods for building and scaling dealer competence, could improve the PEV buying experience; an • Public incentives could better align with established dealer practices and business drivers to improve program effectiveness.

Tesla loses top communicator Simon Sproule to Aston Martin

Looking for a new job? Have experience working in a frenetic environment, promoting cutting-edge mobility products for a demanding boss determined to change the way we travel on this planet, as well as how we trek to others? We hear Tesla Motors just might have an opening for such a person. Again. Simon Sproule, the electric automaker's vice-president of communications and marketing is vacating his cubicle after a mere six months in order to become the chief marketing officer (CMO) over at Aston Martin. That position had gone begging for a year until this appointment. Once he's settled into his new digs, Sproule will again be breaking rock with former Nissan associate Andy Palmer who himself recently took the top spot at the British luxury marque. The move comes at what seems like an inopportune time for Tesla. It has a big D product announcement – suspected to be an all-wheel-drive update of the Model S – scheduled just two days from now and the reveal of its "mass market" Model ? early next year. The company declined our offer to comment on the situation. Aston Martin, on the other hand, should be happy to finally have someone at the marketing helm, what with the recent dropping of the veil from its Lagonda sedan and what's likely to be a bevy of new product built on its forthcoming platform. News Source: PR WeekImage Credit: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi / Bloomberg via Getty Images Green Marketing/Advertising Aston Martin Tesla simon sproule

Tesla Model S EVs now come with lane departure, speed assist AI

When a car's built on such a technology-heavy platform like the one used by Tesla Motors, there are going to be a lot of bells and whistles. More of those little "noisemakers" are being rolled out, as previewed by a new software update. What's most interesting to anyone paying close attention to the slow evolution of the Model S is that the new features are not going to be possible without new components. Tesla Model S sedans will likely need a new camera mounted on the front mirror, but it's not for selfies. Instead, it's there to keep the driver from having too much of a lead foot or straying into another lane thanks to the electric vehicle's software and hardware update that adds Lane Departure Warning and Speed Assist. Other luxury vehicles have long had lane departure warnings, but if you're unfamiliar with the idea, it's when the car emits a vibration through the steering wheel to let the driver know to straighten out if one of the wheels crosses a lane divider. Speed Assist lets the car use a combination of new camera and GPS system to record a particular road's speed limit. At that point, there are a number of signals, including a gray line on the speedometer or an audible chime, to warn the driver that he or she is running the risk of attracting the attention of a Smokey (for you Burt Reynolds fans) and a possible speeding ticket. Tesla has released an official statement that says: Starting recently, some Model S being delivered in North America come equipped with two new features. The features are lane drift detection, which will deliver a warning via vibration in the steering wheel if the driver starts to drift from the lane without signaling, and speed limit display, which will inform the driver of the speed limit and alert them when it is exceeded. These features are necessary to meet the latest standards in the European market, but we have decided to integrate them into Model S delivered worldwide. Whether these features will be an option or included standard is not yet known, but Tesla has said that it is not possible to retrofit the new tech into existing vehicles. The new technology is also vital to make autonomous driving possible.