[coward8675309]

While incumbent car manufacturers may or may not envy Tesla's technology, market cap, grassroots enthusiasm, et cetera, they so, so, so very much envy Tesla's ability to dispense with a dealer network.

Auto reporters in the past hammered on GM, for example, for its uninspired "badge engineering" i.e. creating nearly identical cars for Pontiac, Chevy, Buick, and so forth. The reality was that GM didn't want to do it — they say it as a big distraction — but the company had to deal with their dealer networks, which would complain loudly if a variant of the latest hot model for some other emblem weren't available for them.

Reading the article, I'm wondering if GM tried to induce as many dealerships as possible to ask for a buy-out. In the age of company-owned and branded stores — Tesla is like an Apple Store for cars — for every product category except cars, GM may be trying to claw its way to controlling the consumer experience for Cadillac, its marquee brand, from soup to nuts.