Tesla Set the Mannequin for Promoting EVs; Ford, VW and Others Wish to Comply with

Basic Motors Co.

GM 0.29%

is requiring its GMC-brand sellers to comply with comparable pointers to promote the just lately launched Hummer electrical pickup truck. The settlement stipulates that the sellers shall be shipped solely Hummers ordered by prospects by way of GMC’s web site, a GM spokeswoman stated.

Carlos Tavares,

chief govt of Jeep maker

Stellantis

STLA -0.27%

NV, stated the corporate is working in Europe on a brand new retail mannequin for EVs that he described as a “direct-sales method,” which nonetheless would contain sellers. It’s a twin effort that goals to enhance customer support—which he stated lags behind different industries—and defray the auto maker’s excessive prices related to transferring to EVs, which require expensive lithium-ion batteries.

“The extra prices of electrification can’t be paid by the patron,” he stated throughout a latest media briefing.

The strikes mark a major change from the normal mannequin, the place consumers usually select from lots of of autos on the dealership lot and negotiate pricing with a salesman.

The proposals have sparked concern amongst sellers, and the subject is anticipated to be a focus on the Nationwide Car Sellers Affiliation’s annual assembly in Las Vegas this weekend.

Some auto executives view the business’s pivot to EVs as an opportunity to modernize the entrenched method by which People have purchased vehicles for generations.

“The EV prospects usually are not like our [internal-combustion-engine] prospects,” Ford Chief Government

Jim Farley

stated throughout an investor convention final month.

Whereas plans are nonetheless taking form, automotive executives emphasize that the method must be less complicated and extra digital. They need to provide comparatively few fashions and have mixtures, and need automobile orders positioned remotely, both by way of a vendor or producer’s web site.

Some auto makers are also urging sellers to promote EVs on the producer’s prompt retail worth, though by legislation they’ll’t dictate the ultimate worth the vendor expenses a client, attorneys say. State franchise legal guidelines usually prohibit conventional automotive firms resembling GM and Ford from promoting on to shoppers.

The brand new method comes as shoppers vent frustration on social media—some even interesting on to auto chief executives—about being charged generally 1000’s of {dollars} above the producer’s prompt retail worth, or MSRP. Some auto makers have stated they’re apprehensive about alienating prospects and are attempting to crack down on vendor markups, however they concede that the ultimate worth is the dealership’s name.

The success of Tesla’s retailing technique is turning into a risk for conventional automotive firms, which are attempting to extend EV gross sales whereas promoting by way of unbiased dealerships. Tesla sells on to prospects on-line or from retail shops, after waging a yearslong battle throughout states to sidestep franchise legal guidelines that defend dealerships.

Startups resembling luxury-car maker

Lucid Group Inc.

LCID -2.25%

and electric-truck firm Rivian Automotive Inc. additionally promote straight, emulating Tesla’s no-dealership method.

Volkswagen AG

VOW 2.38%

has been relying solely on on-line buyer orders for its just lately launched ID.4 electrical sport-utility automobile, reasonably than transport them to inventory vendor tons, stated VW U.S. gross sales chief

Ray Mikiciuk.

“We seemed on the competitors that had gone earlier than us, and albeit that’s predominantly Tesla. They created this online-order system,” Mr. Mikiciuk stated.

The shift is fueling tensions with some sellers, who say they’re apprehensive auto makers are utilizing the transition to EVs to insert themselves extra into the shopper expertise, doubtlessly usurping the sellers’ conventional intermediary position.

Invoice Wallace, who owns 10 dealerships in Florida, stated he’s involved Ford is attempting to vary the foundations round which he constructed his enterprise, together with thousands and thousands of {dollars} spent on showrooms and actual property to park lots of of vehicles.

“It seems like their plan is to begin once more with a unique retail formulation. That’s a scary factor,” stated Mr. Wallace, who has been in auto retailing for many years and owns a Lincoln franchise, Ford’s luxurious model. “I feel they’re going to run into great resistance” from sellers, he stated.

Ford executives have stated they plan to work with Ford’s sellers over the subsequent two months to attract up a brand new EV gross sales settlement, viewing the corporate’s community of roughly 2,500 U.S. dealerships as a bonus within the transition to battery-powered autos.

The business’s transfer to EVs nonetheless is in its infancy. Plug-in autos at the moment account for under about 4% of general U.S. gross sales. However modifications to the retail mannequin for electrics are important for sellers as a result of EVs are anticipated to quickly develop into a much bigger slice of their gross sales in coming years.

Phil Maguire, who owns a gaggle of dealerships in upstate New York, stated the present stock crunch on new vehicles and vehicles has proven sellers that there may be advantages to stocking fewer vehicles. However he sees potential pitfalls to a zero-inventory method to EVs.

“When provide will get again to regular, a variety of shoppers aren’t going to need to wait weeks for his or her automotive,” he stated.

Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com