Ford CEO Responds to Price Markups

[cavemold]

Exactly, couple that with the fact that most people have no clue as to why legislation was put into effect as to why manufacturers can't sell directly to consumers because they are to lazy to do the research.

It's not a thing that just happened there was a very good reason why outlawing direct to consumers legislation was put into place and I guarantee you that if it's repealed automobile manufacturers will eventually go back to their slimy ways.....

I believe some these laws needs to be changed. No way new car that has 10 miles on it should be adjusted over 5k MSRP. That's just robbery. Some of these laws are good. These automakers are not same automakers when these laws were first into place. There's a lot more competition for people to chose from. Ford/GM are not the kids on the block anymore. They have tons of competition.

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[Ozuye10]

Wow, straight out of the NADA and UAW propaganda guides. It's barking up the wrong tree anyway. The real killer of auto jobs isn't gonna be direct sales, that's a laugh. The killer of 30% of auto industry jobs over the next decade will be the BEV. And ain't nobody gonna stop it.

We used to have a huge industry to clean up horse dung in cities. Pretty sure those workers retrained to do other things. Much more rewarding vocations.

Not pissing on the union here. I grew up in a union town in a union family. I saw the pros and cons of unions in person. And there are lots of pros, and lots of cons. Live in the south now, and the non-union workers here are living lives and raising families absolutely as great if not better than the union workers back home.

General Electric moved their plant from Erie, PA to Dallas and are paying workers half. I highly doubt those non-union workers are living as great of lives as they lead. I’m from Minnesota and live in VA. Cops and teachers make 40-60% less here than in Minnesota. Houses are more expensive here in VA too. Right to work

 

[waitingonford]

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.

Please share dealer name so we can all avoid them.

 

[jb65]

It may be that I am just jaded, but I can’t help but think that Ford is seeing an opportunity for more profit that the dealers are currently getting. I’m sure they would love to be able to cut out the middleman and spread out small markups over a larger number of the vehicles they sell that would be more likely to go unnoticed.

 

[AutobahnSHO]

Dealers just need to be honest. When you order a car/truck, be upfront with the price.

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".

 

[Scott Asheville]

I wonder if the Ford policy is why I saw a brand new Cactus Gray FX4 on my dealer lot with a "sold as-is, no warranty" sticker on the side window. I was surprised to see two Mavericks for sale and a line of five Broncos. All way, way above sticker, of course.

 

[Ford sales guy]

Then maybe. We can cut out those “greedy” grocery stores marking up milk. Those “greedy” department stores marking up clothes and shoes. And those “greedy gas stations marking up fuel. We’ll show all those greedy jerks that were on to their scams.

 

[aitch-2-oh]

May explain why a shady dealer has a ‘Like New’ Hybrid Lariat (38 miles) buried deep in the back lot, hidden, that purportedly was sold back to the dealer and is now listed for $49,999.

Not believing the ‘sold back’ story, am believing they scammed the Retail Order process and are now trying to avoid detection in an environment of heightened scrutiny.

The lot was packed with Ford cars and trucks, the white Hybrid Lariat was the only Maverick on property. Again, hidden deep in the back lot. Weird.

 

[mtd14]

Then maybe. We can cut out those “greedy” grocery stores marking up milk. Those “greedy” department stores marking up clothes and shoes. And those “greedy gas stations marking up fuel. We’ll show all those greedy jerks that were on to their scams.

Surely you understand the logistics enough to get the difference in the role of a grocery store and how it compares to a dealership, right? Dealerships do serve a crucial role for after the car is sold, but as a means of initial distribution it’s not necessarily in the customers best interest.

 

[hcforde]

could not be further off the mark. I worked multiple hourly jobs in auto repair and related growing up. I also worked union jobs in a school district and also Aerospace/Defense and those experiences were horrible and basically only helped union officers get richer, protected lazy and incompetent people and added tons of cost and delay to products being built. I would never do it again...

I also completed a technical course offered at a local community college to get my license as a CA State Certified Smog Inspector. THAT was where I learned a lot of history on the auto industry and how it produced jobs in the USA. Our current president is a shill for the unions and you always hear him promising "good paying union jobs" everywhere he can injected into all govt policy- because they tend to funnel a lot of campaign donations to elected officials like protection money in a circle of quid pro quo.

My point was not that UNIONS=GOOD, but when people push for things that may sound good on the surface, there almost always are unintended consequences that happen to make a "solution" worse than the "problem" people thought they were fixing. "Progress" isn't always what it is made out to be.

I worked for UAW back in 69-71 and saw the major problem with their restraint of production. We would make a quota and be done before noon. That was a major loss of production as I look back.

 

[Ford sales guy]

Surely you understand the logistics enough to get the difference in the role of a grocery store and how it compares to a dealership, right? Dealerships do serve a crucial role for after the car is sold, but as a means of initial distribution it’s not necessarily in the customers best interest.

I understand quite well that for over a hundred years dealerships were equally as important as Ford motor company itself in selling and building the Ford brand. What you and nearly everything other person almost definitely don’t know is that Ford has been and continually cuts the holdback that dealers make behind the scenes on sold vehicles. That’s the “secret” money Ford pays
The dealer after the sale and sometimes it’s nearly the only money they make depending on the sales price. On some of the cheaper vehicles, dealers make less than $1000.00 and that’s before they go through the shop, get fueled, delivered or the salesperson is paid. I worked 30 years in grocery, so there’s few people that understand it better than I. I’ve worked 7 years as a Ford sales manager, so I have a better than average understanding of that. If your supplier cuts your margins behind the scenes, it must be made up somewhere. If your supplier reduces your available inventory by 90% or more, the light bill still must be paid.
I wait patiently for an intelligent response to a subject you very likely know zip about.

 

[Cad]

I understand quite well that for over a hundred years dealerships were equally as important as Ford motor company itself in selling and building the Ford brand. What you and nearly everything other person almost definitely don’t know is that Ford has been and continually cuts the holdback that dealers make behind the scenes on sold vehicles. That’s the “secret” money Ford pays
The dealer after the sale and sometimes it’s nearly the only money they make depending on the sales price. On some of the cheaper vehicles, dealers make less than $1000.00 and that’s before they go through the shop, get fueled, delivered or the salesperson is paid. I worked 30 years in grocery, so there’s few people that understand it better than I. I’ve worked 7 years as a Ford sales manager, so I have a better than average understanding of that. If your supplier cuts your margins behind the scenes, it must be made up somewhere. If your supplier reduces your available inventory by 90% or more, the light bill still must be paid.
I wait patiently for an intelligent response to a subject you very likely know zip about.

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.

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