Do the incantations "disintermediate all supply chains" and "disrupt all mature industries" suddenly lose all their magical HN mojo when confronted with the Kryptonite of the car industry?
A not insignificant portion of GM/Chrysler's restructuring costs were buyout payments for dealers, many of whom were not profitable.
Who forces car manufacturers to go through a dealer network? Or rather, who forbids them from selling direct to the public? Doesn't that constitute unfair restraint on trade?
I'm serious here. (Non-American speaking.) Is there some law that mandates that cars can only/must be sold through dealers?
Maybe it actually protected consumers three decades ago, but now, consumers have access to more than enough information to make those kinds of decisions for themselves.