MIAMI – South Florida auto dealers are trying to slam the brakes on a new way to sell electric cars in the state.
Scout, a Volkswagen company, plans to sell direct to consumers ― much like Tesla ― which would take all of the Volkswagen dealerships out of the mix.
A who’s-who of South Florida dealers filed suit against Scout before Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also got involved.
Scout and its electric vehicles won’t exist for another few years, but the Florida controversy already does.
“Legacy brands cannot go out and do an end-around as far as not going through a dealer network,” auto dealer Roger Tovar said.
Tovar is right. It’s in a 2023 state statute.
He and a list of state auto dealers, headlined by Norman Braman, are suing scout for planning direct sales to Florida buyers: Marketing, taking deposits of sorts, and cutting Volkswagen dealers out of the sale.
“I as an investor, have invested and believed in this brand and then Volkswagen takes their capital that they want to invest and invest in a separate brand to not go through the dealer network,” Tovar said.
While dealers have Scout in Miami-Dade court, Uthmeier has it on blast.
A letter from one of his deputies tells Scout its ads and intentions had come to his attention.
Perhaps it was from CARPAC, the Florida Automobile Dealers Association’s political action committee, that contributed $30,000 to Uthmeier’s PAC days after that letter.
The Bramans contributed $25,000 a month before. The state is not involved in the Miami-Dade lawsuit.
Uthmeier has given Scout until May 19 to answer questions about its activities and marketing and fees in Florida.
