Ford CEO Responds to Price Markups

[natas666]

Dealers need love too

Would you rather the employees of all dealerships were on unemployment instead? Back in the 1980s 1 in 7 jobs in the USA was related in some form to the US automobile industry. Most required no higher education and many were unionized with great wages and benefits. Now I believe it is less than 4 related jobs and people are constantly claiming there are no good Blue Collar jobs to support families anymore. Be careful what you wish for.

I think the only people at the dealerships to be impacted would be sales people. Change their role to customer service that isn't incentive based aka screwing people for money and some keep their jobs. Will still need parts and service and all the finance people. I can order everything online with the exception of a new car. I've met way too many shady salespeople in the past 30 years car buying. As a vet and father of a vet they treat active duty looking at cars as suckers and rip them off with financing and pricing. So overall yeah I think some need to lose their jobs. I don't see anyone other than salespeople being affected in ordering online.

Sponsored

 

[Old Ranchero]

Carmax proves this. No haggling- prices are posted on the window. Most people know they "could" pay less somewhere else- but they want to just buy a car- not "make a deal".

I bought a new car for fixed price a few years ago through COSTCO's buying service. No haggling, decent treatment. I'm sure there are others like that available.

 

[OleFordGuy]

Hum, I'm thinking many of us on the forum will be dead before this Fully happens. Alot of it is dream talk or BS. They probably get the EV portion accomplished, but the rest will take years, if ever. All the Federal/State laws, Lobbyist, Lawyers, etc. it will move at the pace of a Sloth or Slug

 

[Old Ranchero]

Sorry, but if it’s that bad, maybe the dealership should just close up. The is coming out if it’s so bad for the dealership when most gouge customers throughout the buying Process. I don’t see many dealers closing shop in my neck of the woods, obviously they are making money form service and used car sales.


I drove 70 miles to avoid a peace of crap Ford dealer that was 5 miles from my house. I Would much rather have bought it directly from ford and just pick it up from the dealer (without dealing with dealer sales tactics). Many experiences with horrible dealers and I always with them the worst as I’m walking out the door. Modern day snake oil salesman.

you left out the Intelligent part of your reply Ford Sales Guy was asking for.

 

[teh603]

I think the only people at the dealerships to be impacted would be sales people. Change their role to customer service that isn't incentive based aka screwing people for money and some keep their jobs. Will still need parts and service and all the finance people.

That's what I remember Compaq tech support people saying when the dotcom bubble was popping. "Oh, my job's secure. Tech support is the last thing they can get rid of."

Literally a month later the whole shop moved to India and they were all out of a job.

I can order everything online with the exception of a new car.

You do see why this is going to kill the parts and finance jobs, right? Because once they're no longer doing in- store sales, there's no real point in keeping any dealership employees. Service can be farmed out to Goodyear or Firestone, finance can be reduced to an algorithm, parts can just ship from a single warehouse. Management splits the land value of the dealership and has to go off looking for a better beer.

Just like Compaq shutting down that big facility it had off 290, except five or six of these happening nationally in every major city, plus another one for every three or four small- to medium- sized towns.

 

[natas666]

That's what I remember Compaq tech support people saying when the dotcom bubble was popping. "Oh, my job's secure. Tech support is the last thing they can get rid of."

Literally a month later the whole shop moved to India and they were all out of a job.
You do see why this is going to kill the parts and finance jobs, right? Because once they're no longer doing in- store sales, there's no real point in keeping any dealership employees. Service can be farmed out to Goodyear or Firestone, finance can be reduced to an algorithm, parts can just ship from a single warehouse. Management splits the land value of the dealership and has to go off looking for a better beer.

Just like Compaq shutting down that big facility it had off 290, except five or six of these happening nationally in every major city, plus another one for every three or four small- to medium- sized towns.

Ford buried the horse and buggy industry so they know the score. My entire life the idea of car dealerships and salespeople annoyed me. Why is it that I can go 5 miles away and save $3000 to $5000 on the same vehicle with the same build? I don't want to hear the excuse that you have to do your research. The car buying experience is so exhausting and it could have been streamlined and saved what we are debating right now. Anything that happens to dealerships will be self inflicted.

 

[Thoron99]

You mean Ford is mad at dealers like the one in my town charging almost double MSRP ($45k for an XLT) for Mavericks on the lot? You don’t say….

 

[NJBob]

I just went to the dealer to pick up a Maverick that I ordered about a year ago. They wouldn't sell it to me for anything less than $8,000 over MSRP. I had to walk away.

Wow that sucks. What was the name of the dealer? Since they did not sell it to you that must affect their allocations. Think the goal is 70% of orders have to go to the guy or gal who ordered it
Otherwise their allocations will be cut.

 

[wax87]

Personally, I love the idea of Ford offering a direct to consumer option. Once I order the vehicle, it would be mine and not the dealers which would mean no unnecessary add-ons or dealership marketing decals. Unfortunately, there is far too much greed and dishonesty among dealers today. I realize there are amazing dealers out there, especially those found on this forum, but there simply aren't enough of them. The pandemic has definitely played an impact on vehicle pricing and availability, but its time to make changes in how we purchase and order vehicles because there are too many people out there looking to take advantage of others during difficult times. It's time to put them on notice. Will any of this ever happen? With laws and contracts already in place, probably not anytime soon. Let's just hope Ford sticks to their promise.

What the $7500 “Market Adjustment Fee” that one dealer told me

 

[Ford sales guy]

Sorry, but if it’s that bad, maybe the dealership should just close up. The is coming out if it’s so bad for the dealership when most gouge customers throughout the buying Process. I don’t see many dealers closing shop in my neck of the woods, obviously they are making money form service and used car sales.


I drove 70 miles to avoid a peace of crap Ford dealer that was 5 miles from my house. I Would much rather have bought it directly from ford and just pick it up from the dealer (without dealing with dealer sales tactics). Many experiences with horrible dealers and I always with them the worst as I’m walking out the door. Modern day snake oil salesman.

Cad, I agree that many dealers and salesmen are jerks. As you’ve probably noticed, the world is densely populated with jerks these days. Every industry has good and bad players in it. I happen to be in one where complete strangers come in and tell me in the first five seconds how they “hate” car salesmen. I generally reply with “well, I don’t hate you yet, but we’ll see how it goes I guess”. In what other business do people walk in and tell the person working there that they hate them when they say their first hello?
I understand that a lot of of people who post on this and many sites, would be comfortable ordering online and that’s fine. At my dealership, about one in twenty customers would consider doing that. Most want to talk with someone who knows and understands the product and can help them make the best decision to fill their needs. If you order online, you get what you ordered, even if you misunderstood what you actually ordered. Very few people will be comfortable ordering a ninety thousand vehicle without being absolutely positive it’s exactly right for them. Some customers spend months tweaking their orders until they finally have it perfect.
I sometimes text and email a hundred times over a year with a customer in the process, before and after an order is placed or a vehicle is delivered. I enjoy selling cars and most of my customers enjoy their experience at my dealership. Not all of them do, of course. That might be the people who’ve decided to hate someone they’ve never met?

 

[TyPope]

I have no sympathy for dealers… they have done it to themselves with greed and shady practices for years.

Autoline reported yesterday that dealers are having their most profitable year EVER, by exploiting the shortages. Hardly any need for sympathy there.

Also, individual dealers have been bought out to create a small number of dealer supergroups that only add an expensive corporate overhead layer to car sales. Dealers have nothing to do with small business these days.

Jim Farley has stated dealers add $2-3,000 to the selling cost for each vehicle, strictly overhead with no added value. He wants to move to a model whereby sales are done online and selected former dealers become delivery and service centers only. He will have to in order to compete with direct selling manufacturers.

The writing is on the wall… if you are a car salesman, get rid of those checked sport jackets and look for a real job.

Right. I called on a Hybrid that a dealer nearby had. They wanted $17,000 above markup. That's a 50% graft to take advantage of a customer. Well, they lost me as a customer for life over that. Screw them.

Sponsored