'It's Still a Pig': Colorado Dealers Association Cold on Direct Sales Model, But Rivian Sees Promise There and Beyond

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems
it s still a pig colorado dealers association cold on direct sales model but

With production of its R1T pickup scheduled to commence later this year, upstart EV maker Rivian is aiming to get its products into as many states as possible, even if it means challenging dealer franchise laws. Following the R1T’s debut, the R1S three-row SUV will arrive to bolster Rivian’s emissions-free game.

In Colorado, where a bill seeking to allow direct sales via OEM-owned stores cleared a Senate committee last week, Rivian hopes to secure a victory — then replicate it in other protectionist states.

Senate Bill 167 wouldn’t just help Rivian. The legislation would allow any automaker, even those with franchised dealers, to sell electric vehicles directly to consumers. The only protection in the bill is an amendment, added last Friday, that would forbid an automaker from opening a store next door to an existing dealership.

Go figure, the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association isn’t hot on the idea.

“We’re not enamored with the amendment,” Tim Jackson, president of the CADA, told Automotive News. “You can’t put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.”

As reported by the Colorado Sun, the state’s dealer franchise law is fairly hazy in its wording; Jackson feels that an automaker like Rivian could already be within its rights to open a dealer. The bill’s backer, Senator Chris Hansen (D-Denver) agrees on the ambiguity, but feels the legislation is necessary to clear up any mystery and give EV makers a new avenue to reach customers.

The bill has the support of Gov. Jared Polis.

Earlier this month, a Rivian lobbyist said the Michigan-based automaker, which owns a former Mitsubishi assembly plant in Normal, Illinois, has received a dealer license in Arizona, and is pushing for entry into California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Florida. Efforts to legalize a direct-sales model in Washington hit a legislative roadblock, however, as a bill seeking to allow such a model is now dead in the water for the current term.

In response to the Colorado bill, numerous automakers pledged support for their existing dealer networks. Officials from Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Audi have all issued statements backing the franchise model.

[Image: Rivian]

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  • Thelaine Thelaine on Feb 24, 2020

    Come on Ruggles, you know you want to jump in.

  • Erikstrawn Erikstrawn on Feb 25, 2020

    “We’re not enamored with the amendment,” Tim Jackson, president of the CADA, told Automotive News. “You can’t put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.” Now imagine him saying this with crudely applied lipstick. In my opinion, dealers are the pigs wearing lipstick.

  • Kat Laneaux Wonder if they will be able to be hacked into (the license plates) and then you get pulled over for invalid license plates or better yet, someone steal your car and transpose numbers to show that they are the owners. Just a food for thought.
  • Tassos Government cheese for millionaires, while idiot Joe biden adds trillions to the debt.What a country (IT ONCE WAS!)
  • Tassos screw the fat cat incompetents. Let them rot. No deal.
  • MaintenanceCosts I think if there's one thing we can be sure of given Toyota's recent decisions it's that the strongest version of the next Camry will be a hybrid. Sadly, the buttery V6 is toast.A Camry with the Highlander/Sienna PSD powertrain would be basically competitive in the sedan market, with the slow death of V6 and big-turbo options. But for whatever reason it seems like that powertrain is capacity challenged. Not sure why, as there's nothing exotic in it.A Camry with the Hybrid Max powertrain would be bonkers, easily the fastest thing in segment. It would likewise be easy to build; again, there's nothing exotic in the Hybrid Max powertrain. (And Hybrid Max products don't seem to be all that constrained, so far.)
  • Analoggrotto The readers of TTAC deserve better than a bunch of Kia shills posing as journalists.
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