Techniques for testing fuel delivery problems in ATVs

A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintenance services.

In the United States, car dealerships have historically been an important source of state and local sales taxes. They have considerable political influence and have lobbied for regulations that guarantee their survival and profitability. By 2010, all US states had laws that prohibited manufacturers from side-stepping independent car dealerships and selling cars directly to consumers. By 2009, most states imposed restrictions on the creation of new dealerships to compete with incumbent dealerships.

Economists have characterized these regulations as a form of rent-seeking that extracts rents from manufacturers of cars, increases costs for consumers, and limits entry of new car dealerships while raising profits for incumbent car dealers. Research shows that as a result of these laws, retail prices for cars are higher than they otherwise would be.^[1][2]

The early cars were sold by automakers to customers directly or through a variety of channels, including mail order, department stores, and traveling representatives.^[1] For example, Sears made its first attempt at selling a gasoline-engined chain-drive high-wheeler in 1908 through its mail-order catalog and starting in 1951 the Allstate through select its stores and the catalog.^[3][4]

The first car dealership was opened in 1889 by Fred Koller in Reading, Pennsylvania and sold cars manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio. This would have been the first dealership solely dedicated to automobiles, as opposed to horse-drawn carriages. ^[5]

Today, direct sales by an automaker to consumers are limited by most states in the U.S. through franchise laws that require new cars to be sold only by licensed and bonded, independently owned dealerships.^[6] The first woman car dealer in the United States was Rachel "Mommy" Krouse who in 1903 opened her business, Krouse Motor Car Company, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[7]

The number of car dealerships in the US peaked in 1927 at 53,125 and steadily decreased over the next decades. By 1960, there were 33, 658 dealerships; by 1980, 23,379; and by 2001, 22,007.^[1]

Car dealerships are usually franchised to sell and service vehicles by specific companies. They are often located on properties offering enough room to have buildings housing a showroom, mechanical service, and body repair facilities, as well as to provide storage for used and new vehicles. Many dealerships are located out of town or on the edge of town centers. An example of a traditional single proprietorship car dealership was Collier Motors in North Carolina.^[8] Many modern dealerships are now part of corporate-owned chains with hundreds of locations.^[9] Dealership profits in the US mainly come from servicing, some from used cars, and little from new cars.^[10]

Most automotive manufacturers have shifted the focus of their franchised retailers to branding and technology. New or refurbished facilities are required to have a standard look for their dealerships and have product experts to liaise with customers.^[11][12] Audi has experimented with a hi-tech showroom that allows customers to configure and experience cars on 1:1 scale digital screens.^[13][14] In markets where it is permitted, Mercedes-Benz opened city centre brand stores.^[15]

Tesla Motors has rejected the dealership sales model based on the idea that dealerships do not properly explain the advantages of their cars, and they could not rely on third-party dealerships to handle their sales.^[16] However, in the United States, direct manufacturer auto sales are prohibited in almost every state by franchise laws requiring that new cars be sold only by dealers.^[17] In response, Tesla has opened city centre galleries where prospective customers can view cars that can only be ordered online.^[18][19] These stores were inspired by the Apple Stores.^[20] Tesla's model was the first of its kind, and has given them unique advantages as a new car company.^[21]

In economic theory, car dealerships can be characterized as franchisees and automobile manufacturers as franchisors. A franchise relationship can be beneficial to both parties, as the franchisee can sell a well-made and attractive product while the franchisor can rely on the franchisee to incur downstream costs and use its local relationships to sell more products and services.^[1]

The franchisor can act opportunistically by imposing constraints and burden on the franchisee after the latter has incurred sunk costs, such as investing in physical assets and building up a reputation with customers. The franchisor could for example require that cars be sold at low prices, and services be performed for little compensation. The franchisee could on the other hand act opportunistically by using its local monopoly to perform poor customer service, charge customers more, and pass those unnecessarily high costs to the franchisor.^[1][22]

Car dealerships have lobbied for regulations that increase the survival and profitability of car dealerships:^[1]

• By 2010, all US states had laws that prohibited manufacturers from side-stepping independent car dealers and selling cars to customers directly.
• By 2009, most states imposed restrictions on the creation of new dealerships to compete with incumbent dealerships.
• All states impose severe limits on the ability of a manufacturer to terminate a franchise relationship.
• Most states prevent manufacturers from engaging in "quantity forcing" whereby manufacturers require that dealers purchase vehicles that they had not ordered.
• Most states limit the ability of manufacturers to discriminate between car dealers (for example, by providing better terms to large car dealers with economies of scale or dealers that provide better customer service).
• Many state laws impose upon manufacturers the precise terms under which they must compensate dealers for the costs associated with warranty repairs (these can incentivize dealers to increase the price of repairs to customers).
• Most state laws require upon the termination of a dealership that manufacturers buy back the inventory, and special equipment and in some cases pay the rent of the dealer's facilities.

The issuance of new dealership licenses can be subject to geographical restriction; if there is already a dealership for a company in an area, no one else can open one. This has led to dealerships becoming in essence hereditary, with families running dealerships in an area since the original issuance of their license with no fear of competition or any need to prove qualification or consumer benefit (beyond proving they meet minimum legal standards), as franchises in most jurisdictions can only be withdrawn for illegal activity and no other reason.^[23]

Economists have characterized these laws as a form of rent-seeking that extracts rents from manufacturers of cars and increases costs for consumers of cars while raising profits for car dealers.^{[1][24][25][26]} Multiple studies have shown that regulations that protect car dealerships increase car costs for consumers and limit the profitability of manufacturers.^[27]

This has led to consumer campaigns for establishment or reform, which have been met by huge lobbying efforts by franchise holders. New companies trying to enter the market, such as Tesla, have been restricted by this model and have either been forced out or been forced to work around the franchise model, facing constant legal pressure.^[28]

According to a 2023 survey by the Sierra Club, two-thirds of US car dealerships did not have electric or hybrid vehicles for sale.^[29] Reasons for this include supply chain difficulties,^[29][30] as well as a need for car dealers to make substantial investments in new employee training and infrastructure to be able to sell, service and maintain electric vehicles.^[31]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Three-wheeler" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Campagna T-Rex

1932 Morgan Aero 2-Seater Sports

Fuldamobil three-wheeler (Postwar-era Germany)

Tricycle truck in Poland (Gorzów Wlkp)

Trihawk, a tadpole-type trike manufactured in California, United States during the 1980s

A three-wheeler is a vehicle with three wheels. Some are motorized tricycles, which may be legally classed as motorcycles, while others are tricycles without a motor, some of which are human-powered vehicles and animal-powered vehicles.

Many three-wheelers which exist in the form of motorcycle-based machines are often called trikes and often have the front single wheel and mechanics similar to that of a motorcycle and the rear axle similar to that of a car. Often such vehicles are owner-constructed using a portion of a rear-engine, rear-drive Volkswagen Beetle in combination with a motorcycle front end. Other trikes include All-terrain vehicles that are specially constructed for off-road use.

Three-wheelers can have either one wheel at the back and two at the front (2F1R), (for example: Morgan Motor Company) or one wheel at the front and two at the back (1F2R) (such as the Reliant Robin). Due to better safety when braking, an increasingly popular form is the front-steering "tadpole" or "reverse trike" sometimes with front drive but usually with rear drive. A variant on the 'one at the front' layout was the Scott Sociable, which resembled a four-wheeler with a front wheel missing.^[1]

Three-wheelers, including some cyclecars, bubble cars and microcars, are built for economic and legal reasons: in the UK for tax advantages, or in the US to take advantage of lower safety regulations, being classed as motorcycles. As a result of their light construction and potential better streamlining, three-wheeled cars are usually less expensive to operate.^{[citation needed]}

Some inexpensive three-wheelers have been designed specifically to improve mobility for disabled people.^[2]

Three-wheeler transport vehicles known as auto rickshaws are a common means of public transportation in many countries in the world, and are an essential form of urban transport in many developing countries such as India and the Philippines.

Early automotive pioneer Karl Benz developed a number of three-wheeled models.^[3] One of these, the Benz Patent Motorwagen,^[4] is regarded as the first purpose-built automobile. It was made in 1885.

In 1896, John Henry Knight showed a tri-car at The Great Exhibition.^[3]

In 1897, Edward Butler made the Butler Petrol Cycle, another three-wheeled car.

A Conti 6 hp Tri-car competed in (but did not complete) a 1907 Peking to Paris race sponsored by a French newspaper, Le Matin.^[5]

• 
  1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen
• 
  Goliath pickup truck at a meeting for vintage cars in the 1990s
• 
  Davis D-2 Divan, at the National Automotive and Truck Museum, Auburn, Indiana, United States
• 
  Davis 494, at the National Automotive and Truck Museum, Auburn, Indiana, USA
• 
  Velorex was a manufacturing cooperative in Solnice, Czechoslovakia, formed in 1936 to satisfy demand for small, inexpensive city cars.
• 
  Mazda T2000 truck 1957–1974, length 6.08 m, width 1.84 m, max speed 100 km/h
• 
  An early Daihatsu Midget, which would serve as the basis for auto rickshaws that proliferate across South and Southeast Asia
• 
  Reliant Robin 3-wheeler car.
• 
  2016 Pembleton Supersports

A configuration of two wheels in the front and one wheel at the back presents two advantages: it has improved aerodynamics, and that it readily enables the use of a small lightweight motorcycle powerplant and rear wheel. This approach was used by the Messerschmitt KR200 and BMW Isetta. Alternatively, a more conventional front-engine, front wheel drive layout as is common in four-wheeled cars can be used, with subsequent advantages for transversal stability (the center of mass is further to the front) and traction (two driven wheels instead of one). Some vehicles have a front engine driving the single rear wheel, similar to the rear engine driving the rear wheel. The wheel must support acceleration loads as well as lateral forces when in a turn, and loss of traction can be a challenge.

A new tadpole configuration has been proposed with a rear engine driving the front wheels. This concept (Dragonfly Three Wheeler^[6]) claims both stability and traction (two driven wheels), as well as a unique driving experience.

With two wheels in the front (the "tadpole" form or "reverse trike") the vehicle is far more stable in braking turns, but remains more prone to overturning in normal turns compared to an equivalent four-wheeled vehicle, unless the center of mass is lower and/or further forward. Motorcycle-derived designs suffer from most of the weight being toward the rear of the vehicle.^{[citation needed]}

For lower wind resistance (which increases fuel efficiency), a teardrop shape is often used.^{[citation needed]} A teardrop is wide and round at the front, tapering at the back. The three-wheel configuration allows the two front wheels to create the wide round surface of the vehicle. The single rear wheel allows the vehicle to taper at the back. Examples include the Aptera (solar electric vehicle) and Myers Motors NmG.

Having one wheel in front and two in the rear for power reduces the cost of the steering mechanism but greatly decreases lateral stability when cornering while braking.

When the single wheel is in the front (the "delta" form, as in a child's pedal tricycle), the vehicle is inherently unstable in a braking turn, as the combined tipping forces at the center of mass from turning and braking can rapidly extend beyond the triangle formed by the contact patches of the wheels. This type, if not tipped, also has a greater tendency to spin out ("swap ends") when handled roughly.^{[citation needed]}

The disadvantage of a three-wheel configuration is that lateral stability is lower than with a four-wheeled vehicle.

With any vehicle, an imaginary line can be projected from the vehicles centre of mass to the ground, representing the force exerted on the vehicle by its mass. With the vehicle stationary, the line will be vertical. As the vehicle accelerates, that imaginary line tilts backward, remaining anchored to the centre of mass the point at which the line intersects the ground moves backward. As you brake it moves forward, with cornering it moves sideward. Should the point at which this line intersects the ground move outside of the boundary formed by connecting the tyre contact patches together (a rectangle for a four-wheeled car, or a triangle for a trike) then the vehicle will tip and eventually fall over. This is true for any vehicle.

With all vehicles it is critical that the vehicle should be engineered to slide before this point of instability is reached.

This can be achieved in several ways:

• by placing the center of mass closer to the ground
• by placing the center of mass closer to the axle with two wheels (for three wheelers)
• by increasing the track width
• by limiting the grip provided by the tyres, such that the vehicle loses adhesion before it starts to tip.
• By tilting some or all of the vehicle as it corners.

In the case of a three-wheeled ATV, tipping may be avoided by the rider leaning into turns.

To improve stability some three-wheelers are designed to tilt while cornering like a motorcyclist would do. The tilt may be controlled manually, mechanically or by computer.

A tilting three-wheeler's body or wheels, or both, tilt in the direction of the turn. Such vehicles can corner safely even with a narrow track.

Some tilting three-wheelers could be considered to be forms of feet forward motorcycles or cabin motorcycles or both.