Volvo Cars USA chief executive Anders Gustafsson quickly responded to these concerns, insisting that dealerships will continue to sell the vehicles and maintain relationships with customers.
“We have been very clear with that,” he said. “We will, of course, push things a little bit and see if we can develop this industry, especially related to digitalization.”
Even so, dealership owners like Adam Simms believe the dealership experience extends far beyond simply selling vehicles to consumers: “We have to engage with the prospect not just on the product, but on their passion about what they want to drive. I am not sure a website emotionally engages people like humans do.”