Chevy does not plan to buy dealers for electric vehicles like GM has provided for Buick, Cadillac

Chevrolet will not follow in the footsteps of General Motors brands Buick and Cadillac in offering buybacks to dealers who don’t want to sell electric vehicles, a GM executive said in a recent interview with Reuters. The Verge.

In fact, dealers that buy back their Buick and Cadillac franchises may only sell Chevys exclusively, GM global vice president Scott Bell said in the interview.

“As soon as they come back and say, ‘You know what, I’m not ready to go all out for those brands,'” Bell said.

2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV

Because while Buick and Cadillac are expected to transition to all-electric power by the end of the decade, and GM says it is “ambitious” to remove exhaust pipes from its light vehicles by 2035, the manufacturer The automaker has yet to set an official date for Chevy to stop selling internal combustion vehicles.

Buick’s boss recently said the brand will provide redemptions to all of the brand’s approximately 2,000 franchised dealers if they don’t want to be all involved in electric vehicles. This follows a similar acquisition offer from Cadillac.

Selling an electric vehicle often comes with an additional investment in charging equipment. Cadillac has requires a large investment from dealers, including 80-amp chargers, are estimated to cost up to $200,000 per dealer.

2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV

While increased investment can be a boon, it’s worth noting that many GMC dealers have already made some investments to sell the Hummer EV. And dealers representing 95% of Chevy sales sold Bolt EVs, Bell says The Verge.

In addition to dealer costs, rising electric vehicle sales also raise questions about whether automakers should switch from a franchise model to a direct-selling model like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid. Ford has tried to close the gap by retaining franchised dealers for its Model E division, but with new contracts that will require Non-negotiable price for EVs.