It wasn't even two weeks ago that Ford's VP of sales for the U.S. and Canada decided he needed to tell the dealer body to stop squeezing 2022 F-150 Lightning buyers for more reservation money. The shenanigans risk alienating the very important new customers of a very important new truck.
The letter identifies three unwelcome tactics. The first is dealers insisting customers pay more than the $1,000 reservation fee that GM set for the Z06. This problem is already years old, with some dealers opening up their own reservations lists in 2019, more than two years before GM announced the car. While some dealers only took $1,000 for a reservation, a dealer in New Hampshire claimed to have more than 1,300 potential buyers who had put down $2,000.
The second game Carlisle wants to take down is the dreaded market adjustment, dealers having"requested customers to pay sums far in excess of MSRP in order to purchase or lease a vehicle." We're not sure what recourse GM has against this. We're sure Ford isn't happy about F-150 Lightning markups, either, but Ford specified in its letter that it wouldn't tolerate gaming the reservation system as opposed to ADMs.
The third offense is dealers reselling vehicles to brokers; having a broker volunteer fat sums over MSRP is an easy way for a dealer to sidestep having to ask for more money. Carlisle notes that this practice is explicitly outlawed in the dealer's sales and service agreement with GM. It will be interesting to see how dealers respond. With the prodigious sums on offer, we expect some dealers will continue to explore where the line is and whether it can be nudged further into the black. Surcharges have been around as long as there have been more buyers than product, and in a market where a dealer feels justified asking a $38,000 ADM on a regular 2022 Corvette — which GM hasn't said anything about, remember — stopping all of these practices could be a mighty challenge.
but I want it in Forza
Not a fan of corvettes, but car makers need to eliminate dealers all together, let ppl online order exactly what they want, make the final price the final price.. eliminate the price negotiation, the 'ask my manager' BS entirely. Eliminate dealer add-on markup stuff..
👍🏻
Dealers.... or not. The automaker needs to have a clear position. Consumers will ultimately be affected.
They should also be clear on Employee and Supplier acceptance. Some dealers will accept others won’t. GM
Found a great workaround for this BS, buy a Porsche.
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