Do We Still Need Car Dealers?

Shane Hewitt and The Nightshift · Apr 28, 2026 · 8m

Car dealerships have survived a hundred years of disruption, but Lorraine Sommerfeld says their reputations have taken a serious hit since the pandemic and consumers are increasingly choosing to just stay away.

The frustration is not really about the car. It is about the small office after you have already decided to buy it. Lorraine Sommerfeld points to Genesis as the model built specifically around what Canadians told JD Power they hated most: negotiation. Price is the price. No commission pressure. It is what Saturn tried in the nineties and GM threw away. On the other end of the spectrum…