Scout Motors, a new electric SUV manufacturer, aims to revolutionize car buying by allowing customers to purchase and manage their vehicles entirely through an app. The company faces challenges in South Carolina, where laws prohibit direct manufacturer sales and service centers. Scout argues that its app-based model, similar to online shopping experiences, will offer convenience and affordability. The company is lobbying for legislative changes to allow direct sales and service, highlighting the benefits of online car buying and consumer choice.
South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaste points as he walks with his staff to a groundbreaking ceremony for a new interstate exit for the Scout Motors plant on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Blythewood, S.C. in the electric SUV market with a carefully cultivated experience that will allow some customers to buy the company's vehicle in minutes on an app and then use it to handle everything after from repairs to updates and upgrades.
Unlike a pair of pants, where color, style and size are about the only concerns, buying a car involves financing, state registration, taxes, regulations — and often a test drive. People who back the dealership structure said online sales could lead to carmakers raising their own prices with less competition.
“If a manufacturer cannot sell his own product, but must constitutionally pass that product through a ‘middle man,’ then our understanding of the free market system is way off base. The Internet is a worldwide web for trade, not a local instrument for protectionism,” wrote then-Republican state Attorney General Charlie Condon in the opinion, which is not binding and an educated guess on what a judge might do if someone sued over the law.
Scout is trying to find a niche in a growing but uncertain U.S. electric vehicle market. President Donald Trump's election could threaten the industry, both through ending tax credits and tariffs that could raise prices.
Technology Electric Vehicles Direct Sales Online Shopping Car Dealerships South Carolina
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