Legal Protections Franchise Dealers Have Against Direct Manufacturere Sales

As posted to the Bellavia Blatt YouTube Channel on 9/30/22, and the Fixed Ops Roundtable YouTube Channel on 10/8/22 (Run Time: 17 min, 52 sec) With automakers speeding toward electrification, many are more than hinting at a new distribution model for those electrified vehicles involving customers ordering vehicles online.  Are dealers at risk of being cut out of the sales process? In this clip, automotive attorney Len Bellavia sits down virtually with Ted Ings at the "Fixed Ops Roundtable" to discuss the future of the franchised dealership network model. Len's position is that the real risk is whether or not dealers are going to invoke their rights under their respective states' franchise laws which have been on the books for decades, designed to protect against this very subject. "State Dealer...

Attention OEMs: The Age of Catalog Engineering is Over

Excerpt of an article posted to the Memos by Heller House website on 7/27/22   In their book The Innovator's Solution, Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor cite the example of IBM as a cautionary tale against outsourcing activities that "might seem to be a non-core activity today" but that "might become an absolute critical competence to have mastered in a proprietary way in the future". IBM decided to outsource the microprocessor for its PC business to Intel, and its operating system to Microsoft.  IBM made these decisions in the early 1980s in order to focus on what it did best - designing, assembling, and marketing computer systems. In the process of outsourcing what it did not perceive to be core to the new business, IBM put into business the...

Legal Protections Franchise Dealers Have Against Direct Manufacturere Sales

As posted to CBT News on 6/14/22                 (Click Image to View Clip - Run Time: 18 min, 46 sec) Automakers have been making some unprecedented moves with regards to electric vehicles . . . so much so that many franchise dealers are becoming concerned about the future of their businesses. In this clip, automotive attorney Len Bellavia sits down virtually with Jim Fitzpatrick on CBT News' "Inside Automotive" to discuss recent factory announcements as well as his perspective on the future of the franchised dealer network model. With OEMs implying that it is their wish to implement a direct-to-consumer sales model in some form or another, Bellavia states that franchise dealers are wondering if action needs to be taken. From his perspective, the broad dealer consensus seems to be...