The battle for auto retail's future won't be won in the showroom. It will be won on the service drive. New EV brands like Rivian are learning a painful lesson that franchised dealers have known for a century: building a car is only half the job. Supporting it is the other, harder half. Rivian’s success with the R2 hinges not on production volume, but on their ability to build a service network to support all those new owners. It's a massive, expensive, and slow undertaking. This is the dealer's strategic high ground. As vehicles become more commoditized, electrified, and defined by software, the quality of the service experience becomes the key differentiator. You already have the infrastructure. You have the technicians. You have a hundred-year head start. The industry is shifting from a focus on sales transactions to a focus on the entire ownership lifecycle. While others are trying to build a service network from scratch, you already have one. That is your moat. Make it wid...