This is good — the money on the trucks. The money on the 2010 models is a nonevent because there aren’t any of them in stock . . . The incentives are good advertising to get people in the door, then we can sell them whatever we have in stock.
Tommy Brasher, owner of Brasher Motor Co. of Weimar, Texas, on GM’s decision to hold a “Truck Month” sale after all. Maybe we didn’t get the memo, but GM’s Bob Lutz said last week that GM would forgo the celebration of lost profits for fear it would hamstring the “May The Best Car Win” campaign. After all, the whole point of “May The Best Car Win” is to convince consumers that GM products are worth shopping even when they don’t have cash on the hood. But with trucks cramming the lots and in-demand models nowhere to be found, GM went ahead and sacrificed perception for what spokesfolks call a “competitive response” to Ford’s Truck Month. Old habits die hard.
Considering the Brasher Family has been selling Chevys for about 80 years now, I doubt he really cares about Max Bob’s latest soon-to-be marketing failure. I suspect the “Truck Month” is another one of the industry’s time tested practices that simply will not go away…until the ridiculous MSRP pricing system does too.
Tommy’s a good guy, ask me how I know.
powerpeece:
Doesn’t surprise me that they read critical forums… but it also doesn’t surprise me that they won’t learn from all the information we give them for free.
I’m sure all manufacturers will peek around on what is going on. unless they rely only on their meaningless surveys :-)
Yes, GM you heard me… people want good cars, no jibberish about perception gaps. No need to spy to get that information. Oh, people don’t like corporate or union welfare either. Surprise surprise.
It is definitely Truck Month at Ford, because the dealer lots are loaded with extended and crew cabs. Most of these are the gussied up deluxe models, too.
I don’t know if it is the aftermath of Cash for Clunkers, but there aren’t many fuel efficient cars left at one local Ford dealer’s lot here in Texas.
The 09 Rangers look to be out of stock as well.
When Ford decides it’s Truck Month to clear out the big iron, I guess GM feels the need follow.
So if GM dealerships have “no 2010 cars in stock. He estimates he has a 30-day supply of 2009 and 2010 trucks.”
Is Ford in the same position?
Oldandslow: I’ve seen that in my neck of the woods as well. Most of the lots did move trucks during C4C. It seems like it was primarily basic work trucks that sold. The toy and fashion statement trucks are still sitting there.
It’s really not appropriate to post IP addresses publicly on this forum, regardless of whose IP address it is.
When I moved to the USA, the fake invoice / MSRP system was crazy. Everyone is after a bargain, but the only ones who really win are the dealers who have holdbacks, spiffs, and so on that are completely non-transparent to the customer.
I *want* the dealer to make a (modest) profit, so they can service my car, and if they don’t screw me over, vandalize the car with pin striping or underbody snake oil, may be in business for my next car.
I hate haggling. I just want a good price, one that allows the sales folks to thrive, the dealer to eat and clothe his or her family, and the manufacturer to develop the next generation of what I have.
I hate discounting – it hurts the brand, and totally craps out on resale values. I look at the total cost to own, and any car that loses more than 40% over three years is simply off my list. Just because it’s $1000 cheaper today is irrelevant if this practice wipes the floor when it comes time to trade it in and replace the car. Discounting only helps dealers, not buyers, and certainly not the manufacturer.
This stuff is not rocket science:
* Get rid of haggling. I absolutely despise it and it’s why the car dealer is even less trusted in the community than politicians.
* Get rid of commissions – pay the damn sales staff properly so you don’t get such high turnover and actually develop some customer loyalty. I’m a freak as I follow sales staff – I really don’t care about a dealer at all.
* Get rid of hold backs, spiffs, money on the hood, and hidden incentives.
* Get rid of floor plans. This is a hidden benefit to car manufacturers – twice. One it makes a car “sold” in the stats, but it’s not – it’s just built. Two it makes the dealer wear the cost of not being able to shift crappy cars or colors. If it’s not sold and it’s new, it’s not sold – it should be the property of the car manufacturer. The risk of bad models should be with the model planners, not the poor sucker dealers.
In other words, look at how BMW sell cars (for the most part). There’s no money on the hood. There’s no sales. There’s limited opportunity for haggling, especially if you’re doing a customer order. Dealers play by the BMW handbook – I’ve yet to see a crappy BMW dealer ad. Their resale is awesome – making a car like the 335 more manageable *in the long run* than any domestic.
If the domestics could change over to a CarMax model with BMW professionalism, I think it would be a win win for everyone but the adrenaline junkie who likes to battle the 4 square masters.
This stuff is not rocket science.
Get rid of haggling.
You’re free to pay MSRP if you want. I won’t.
@pch101 – MSRP is pure fiction. “Invoice” is fiction. I bought my last car in the USA at “invoice”, possibly slightly less as I got a full tank of gas and made sure the floor mats were the true VW floor mats.
Why would a dealer sell their invoice cost if they made no money on the sale? It’d be better to put the floorplan cost per month in the bank and earn 2% than to trade cars. Obviously, they are making money at invoice, and many customers don’t know it, and some do know it and try to get eat into the spiffs and hold backs.
What is happening now is not working. Customers truly hate the buying process, and that pure burning hatred transfers to the general consensus that car sales folks are thieves and worse neighbors than child molesters. Customers HATE the F&I process – you think you’ve got through the hard part, but really, you’re about to be screwed with the four square. Customers hate the Tiffany Units trying to upsell them useless snake oil like underbody protection and fabric protection, or worse be told lies like we’ve only got your preferred model and its already got underbody protection and I’m sorry, but we have to charge you for it along with the pin striping that was applied by a drunken homeless guy.
Today’s process is hateful, produces no profits for the manufacturers as they rush incentives to an unwilling market, many dealers are going bust, and sales folks are regularly scammed out of their rightful commissions. It has to go.
I’m not a car maker nor a dealer. I just buy cars regularly. Make it easy, good value, and stress free, and I’ll buy from you. Just don’t lie to me.
MSRP is pure fiction.
This statement makes no sense. It’s an asking price. You can pay it if you want, or negotiate it if you want. It’s up to the seller to either adjust the price or not.
Make it easy, good value, and stress free, and I’ll buy from you.
You need to buy your cars through an auto broker. You may leave me out of your desires to “reform” the system.
I am an aggressive buyer, and I want to pay as little as possible. I don’t need your schemes to interfere with my process, just because you don’t like to or don’t know how to negotiate.
If buyers wanted what you wanted, then the Saturn sales model would be universal. As turns out, it isn’t, and it isn’t for a reason.
I am an aggressive buyer, and I want to pay as little as possible. I don’t need your schemes to interfere with my process, just because you don’t like to or don’t know how to negotiate.
I know how to negotiate. I know the tricks (now that I’ve done it a fair few times). I’ve never paid top dollar for any of my cars. I just hate it.
You and I may be an aggressive buyer, but most folks aren’t. I have a friend who has a 12 year old Mazda 121 (a car not sold in the USA) who outright refuses to get rid of it even though she has driven it into the ground. Why? The last dealer 12 years ago left her with such a negative experience that she has panic attacks every time I suggest we go visit a dealer lot, and is actually terrified of doing another deal. I doubt she’ll buy another car in her life time once this one dies for the final time. We don’t have Saturn or Carmax here in Australia, so they’re simply not an option.
Although many folks can’t do without a car, I bet the dealer experience so puts off so many folks, that car makers could make a lot more money if they simply stopped trying to screw us over *every* *single* *time* we have to deal with them.
The model is broken. It’s bankrupted two major US car manufacturers so far who wallowed in this exceedingly poor customer experience. It’s killed thousands of dealers. It has to change.
You and I may be an aggressive buyer, but most folks aren’t.
If Americans did not want the opportunity to get a better deal than the next guy, then we wouldn’t have the system that we have now.
It’s like poker. Most people lose in the long run, but they play anyway because they want the chance to win. It’s not the outcome, it’s the opportunity. Those who learn the game can win the game and do well with it, but people have to be willing to learn.
If you don’t like it, then don’t haggle, it’s that simple. Go to an auto broker and let them handle it for you. Obviously, you can’t hate it that much, otherwise you would be willing to pay real money for the benefits of avoiding negotiations.
BMW and Lexus dealerships have been the most professional dealerships I have been in by far. I actually found a good salesperson at a large Toyota dealer as well here in Houston. Volvo was better than average as was VW and Honda. Worst experiences were at Ford and Nissan, Chevy and GMC were average.