This opinion only reflects the author’s thoughts and not necessarily those of the CarNewsCafe team.
The National Automobile Dealers Association released a video to sway consumers away from the freedom of choice of buying direct, in this case, from Tesla Motors. The message is delivered in a way that demeans women. Most of the so-called facts are misrepresented.
NADA grapples with facts
NADA, which stands for National Automobile Dealers Association, one of the U.S. largest and most financially powerful group, launched a campaign called Get The Facts designed to help consumers get the facts straight. It states obvious facts, such as buying a car represents the second largest investment after a home with the voice of a cheerful young woman. It quickly proceeds to ask whether “dismantling the car buying experience” hurts consumers, which it clumsily tries to prove. We don’t recall anyone raving about their car buying experience, nor that it should be dismantled. We do recall people asking for choice.
The campaign focuses on dealership help price competition, a quickly dis-proven fact when dealership usually represent more than one brand (a conflict of interest) and to get true price competition, you need to travel far for better deals. This point is an insult to our intelligence. NADA, you can do better. The next point is safety, something the Model S has already demonstrated very well, earning the NHTSA’s highest rating. After this, NADA says automaker are not involved in servicing cars, something Tesla has shown to do very well. Finally, NADA estimates dealerships help local economy by hiring well paid salespeople. The points sink so low, we’ll let you read InsideEVs, which does a good job countering each points.
NADA dis-empowers women
The campaign judiciously salutes women, acknowledging them for being 60% of the purchase choice. The campaign page boldly states: “The current franchised new-car dealer model has benefited consumers, manufacturers and local communities for nearly a century. It is supported by both dealers and factories as the best and most efficient way to buy, sell, service and finance cars in the marketplace. NADA’s Get the Facts page sets the record straight about the benefits of the franchise system for consumers and local communities all over America. ”
In a desperate plea to appeal to consumers, NADA shows us a 1950’s commercial, an insulting throwback to an era long-gone. This is a self serving views of the facts, represented by an extremely partial dealership association. Women are again portrayed as uneducated consumers, painted in a demeaning way.
NADA used nada sense to reach its target audience by insulting women and treating them as they were 60 years ago. NADA is showing it is living in “lala” lalaland. If NADA wants to prove itself and truly represent the dealership association with its million of dollars, then it needs to focus on making the “car buying experience” a positive one, not what it has become today, a root canal experience. The biggest concern people have, is walking in a dealership resisting pushy salesmen and get what they came for. NADA, this is 2014, not the fifties, you can do much better than that.
