Is Chevy feeling the heat?

[jeff_h]

On the side topic that sprung up, I can definitely say that at least some of the salespeople at the dealerships I went to are not thrilled with the way the plug-in and EV sales are handled. But, that's probably just because they aren't one of the "EV guys," so every buyer who comes in and wants to look at one of those cars goes straight to one of the specialists. At the first dealership I went to, they had no Energis (despite a somewhat misleading statement on their website) and they seemed miffed when I walked on the lot and said that's what I was looking for. At the second dealership I went to, I was greeted by the usual onslaught of salespeople hanging out near the customer parking area, and once I told them I was looking for an Energi, their mood noticeably turned sour as they told me they'd have to go get "the guy" that I could talk to. The dealership management seemed ecstatic about the Energi, and they had a TON of them in stock, and at least claimed that they were moving quite well.

 

My dealer's service department has specific Hybrid/EV techs that work on these types of vehicles, but I don't think they have specialized personnel to sell them. Seems like a salesman that was well-versed on the dealer's info and ordering guide, everything in the public brochures, and maybe even review info on forums such as this would be well-versed enough to NOT having to defer a potential sale to someone else, though of course each dealer is different I guess.  I have never been a car salesman but have watched them often when at the dealer for a service appt or when purchasing a car, seems like it's a feast-or-famine atmosphere - and during the slow times a salesman could do well to study up on their products since I see many comments on these forums worded like "I knew more about the car than the salesman did", which is sad no matter what brand of car (or other product, for that matter).

[murphy]

The requirements to become an "electric certified" dealer include training of two techs to repair the car, two salesmen to sell the car, and the installation of two charging stations at the dealership, one inside the service area and one outside of the service area.  I'm not sure what the intention for the outside unit is but my dealer effectively prevents it use by parking cars waiting to be repaired in front of it.